Living the Life
by daywalker28
Summary: BETHYL/DETH MA "Good. If you do that at full strength, they should loosen their grip. Which means you get at least one hand free and punch their nose again, or you wiggle free completely. If you get outta their hands, you run. I don't care the circumstances. You run," I said quietly. Unconsciously, I bend down my head and kiss her. I DON'T OWN TWD NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is the first time I've ever really written, so don't be too hard on me. This is taking place after the Season 4 finale, but I kept Martinez and the Governor still alive. Thanks guys! I'll try to update every day, weekends I might not. But I'll try :) have fun! Oh and this is a Bethyl/Deth story. :)**

Chapter 1

I sat by the dying fire, next to Martinez. The Governor sat right next to me, shoulders touching. I shivered from his touch, despite the 75 degree weather and crackling fire.

I had been with him for over a year now. After he had killed my dad and everyone was leaving and boarding the bus, he kidnapped me. I was on her to find Judith when he found me, and I hoped to God the little girl was safe.

The Governor told me he would make me safe now; he did the total opposite.

I was lost in the thought of my family, of Carol and Daryl, Rick and Carl, when he nudged my bruised arm.

"Let's go to bed, Bethany," he said with a wink. Wish, I noted, looked like a blink considering had one eye.

I flicked my eyes to Martinez who gave me a sad look. I nodded slightly, looking down at my mud covered boots and standing up. He put his hand on the small of my back, pushing me into "our" tent. This happened almost every night, and I was forced to go along with it. Whenever I resisted, he brought out chains. He would chain me up and take advantage of me while the chains dug into my wrists and ankles, way too tight.

He lied me down on my back, kissing up and down my neck with roughness. Every time this happened, I had to fight back the stinging tears in my eyes, threatening to flow over.

He worked with my pants, pulling them down. This time the tears spilled over as she blacked out, praying to see her father's face just once more.

...

I woke up with my shirt off but bra still on. The Governor was gone and she heard him talking to Martinez outside the tent.

"Why do you have to treat her like that?" I heard Martinez say. I smiled a little knowing he was finally sticking up for me.

"Like what? I don't do anything to her that she doesn't agree with," I heard him reply. I glared out the tent while I found a shirt to put on over my bruised and scarred body.

"Then how do you explain the cuts, the scars, the bruises?" She's just a girl. She wants to leave, be with her family again. Let her be free," Martinez said, almost begging for my freedom.

All was silent, then I heard footsteps coming towards the tent and I stumbled towards the zipper flap of a door to get out of the tent before he could get back in.

I stumbled out and stood up inches in front of him and I took a quick step back to get away, only to end up falling on my butt. The Governor glared and opened his mouth. I braced myself for a beating or even just his harsh words.

Instead, he said, "Do you want to leave, Bethany?"

I looked up at him, my blond hair in my face. I didn't trust him, knew there had to be a catch. "W...what?" was all I could stutter out.

"Do you want to leave? I know you miss your family. They're probably all dead, but if you to rough it by yourself, be my guest. You're dead weight. A sex toy." I just stared at him with what I imagined to be my big stupid doe eyes.

"I...uh. Really?" I was at a loss of words, to say the least.

"Leave. You have two hours, if you don't leave by then, well..." he grinned at me and I cringed in response but nodded and stood up, walking towards Martinez who was making breakfast for everyone.

He looked up and I whispered, "Thank you," to him. He nodded and handed me a bowl of oat meal.

We ate in silence and all I could think about was leaving. When it was time, Martinez handed me a backpack filled with food and supplies. Then he handed me a gun and gave me my knife back, which she instinctively slipped into my boot.

I hugged him and said into his ear, "Come with me, please." He pulled back and looked into my eyes.

"Chica...you know I can't do that," he said apologetically.

I gripped his arms and almost whined, "Martinez, please."

He slowly nodded. "Okay. Alright, fine. I'll go. Only for you, chica. I know you won't live out there on your own." He said with a joking tone.

I smile a little bit, then Phillip opened the fence for me to leave. Martinez stepped out first, me behind him.

"Martinez, what the hell do you think you're doing?" The Governor called out.

"I'm leaving you, homie. It's been hell living here, but thanks for keeping us alive! See you in the next hell," and with that, we were both gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the one review so far! More than I thought I'd get so..;) Updating way early. I hate not being able to read a few chapters when I first start a new story. Thanks again and review :) Also, I do a bit from Daryl's POV in this chapter. I'll be switching it up between them from now on. I hope you can keep track...if not, let me know and I'll label them :)**

Chapter 2

Martinez and I had been together for about 3 days by now. We found a small town that hadn't been completely ransacked, so we hit all the stores and gathered supplies. Didn't get much, but we got canned soups, veggies and even some fruit, which was cherished by me. We picked up some medical supplies, pain pills, gauze, and some needles and thread. If one of us got hurt, we'd have to make do with what we had. Martinez didn't do much scavenging with me, but instead looked for some gasoline and a car that he could wire. He ended up finding a Dodge Durango; it was a gas guzzler but it was better than walking on foot.

We spent the night in the town, in the back of a gas station. We hadn't talked much all day, and I could tell Martinez was getting bored.

"Do you have ADHD?" I asked as I broke open a can of cold soup.

"Why do you ask?" he replied, looking at me curiously. He took the can of soup from me and spooned some into his mouth and passed it back.

I shrug and reply, "Just wondering. You always seem like you need to be doing something, having your mind occupied. But it can never be one thing, it's always changing. That's what ADHD is like, right?" I shrug again. "Maybe I'm just reading too far into things."

Martinez shook his head and said, "No, chica. I don't know if I do. Never had the money to get much of any medical attention, ya know?"

I nod, understanding. "I get it. My daddy was a doctor. Well...a vet. But with all hell loose, he's a pretty good doctor. I miss my daddy. And Maggie, and Carl. Hell, even Daryl." I just started rambling, and I surprised even myself by saying I missed Daryl. Martinez laughed at me.

"How could someone miss the redneck? He might be a good shot with a bow, but he's kind of an ass," he said. By then, there was just one or two spoonful's left of the cold chicken noodle soup. I passed it back to him but he let me have it, and I thankfully drank it all down.

"Yeah, but he was family," I said back, smiling a little. I shrug my narrow shoulders, thinking of something to change the subject to before I start to cry. Instead of talking, he comes over and embraces my small figure, comforting me.

"I'm so sorry, Beth. For loosing your family, for Phillip, for not saving you sooner. I'm sorry," he said, a sad tone in his voice. I just nod, not being able to say anything to the awfully kind gesture. I knew he felt bad, but not this bad. I welcomed the comfort though. All I really wanted to do was settle down in a warm bed and sleep, but in this world, even that was way too farfetched. He let go and we settled down on the ground in our sleeping bags. Surprisingly, we both fell asleep in an instant, no one staying on watch.

I awoke and Martinez wasn't next to me, but his sleeping bag was rolled up, so I didn't worry too much. I stood up, stretched, and yawned. I felt an extreme urge to brush my teeth, my morning breath practically killing my nose hairs. I put my hair back up into a pony tail, as it had fallen out while I slept. I walked out of the gas station, looking around for Martinez when I heard him talking to someone. I froze, not sure if I should walk over to them or not. He wasn't in sight, and I could barely make out his voice. After a few minutes of standing there, I heard the roar of a motorcycle engine.

_That sounds like Daryl's motorcycle...No, it can't be. Impossible. _I thought to myself. But I was almost in shock when I saw it come in to view. It was Daryl. It was really him. I started freaking out to myself, then he pulled up in front of me.

I thought she was dead. I really did. Didn't think should would've even survived the prison attack, let alone staying on her own. Turns out she wasn't alone though. Instead of showing my shock and disbelief, I say, "Good morning Beth. You guys coming back or what?" I noticed bruises around her neck and thighs, scars around her bare ankles and wrists, and other scattered bruises, cuts and scars covering her body. I didn't say anything about it though.

She just stood there, looking at me with giant blue doe eyes, like a deer in the god damn headlights. "Well?" She nodded a little in response.

"Y-yes. Where are you all now? Is Maggie alive? Is Glenn sick still? Did he make it? And Carl and Rick? I'm so happy to see you, you have no idea," she finally said.

"Calm down, princess. We're at a correctional facility. Pretty nice set up. Maggie's alive, and Glenn is doing well. I'm sure they have something to tell you when we get back. Carl and Rick are fine. Most of the Woodbury people made it, Carol is still gone," I say, a little pained. She was the closest thing I had to a friend.

She flashed a warm smile at me and said, "Good. I'll get my stuff and we'll go. Martinez, hurry your ass up!"

Well. What a potty mouth she's got now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter three! Sorry for any mistakes and such. I feel like the last chapter could've been longer and better, but oh well. If I didn't end it there, it woulda been too long. Review, it motivates me :) Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm not even sure how I'm tying him in yet, he'll be a quiet character for now. I think I know how I'll go about this. Thanks guys!**

**Special shoutout to NormanReedusLover, for being the inspiration I have to write now. Their Bethyl fic called Rough is amazing, and I'm just waiting for the sequel;) Check it out!**

**Chapter 3**

We got all of our stuff packed into the truck, plus some more supplies we had found scattered around. I rode in the truck with Martinez, Daryl in front of us on his bike. I still couldn't believe how unreal this was. We were so far away from the prison or anywhere I would've guessed they could be, but by the grace of whatever kind of god is out there, he found us. The irritable, sarcastic redneck found us. I was practically jumping up and down in my seat the whole ride to the school he told me they were at. The ride was quiet between Martinez and I, but it wasn't awkward. It never is between us, it's just comfortable. Sometimes I thought about liking Martinez in the way I liked Jimmy. It just didn't work. We got along well, but we were just close friends. I think to much into things sometimes.

We arrived at the "school" probably 45 minutes later. I wasn't paying too much attention to the time. I took in the surroundings; a low fence covered with barbed wire surround the school. The gate was locked in place with a padlock and chain like it was at the prison, and there were still dead walkers lying dead on the ground. I guessed they hadn't been there very long, since the bodies were there. Glenn opened up the gate and we drove in. He shot a confused glance at Daryl, noticing the truck. He probably couldn't see our faces very well.

When we pulled in, I hopped out of the truck even before it was completely stopped. "Glenn! Where's Maggie? And Daryl said you guys have something to tell me? Is everyone okay? Oh my God!" I ran and hugged him, stopping my rambling. Glenn was like a big brother to me now.

He laughed at me and hugged back. "Beth, where the hell were you?" he asked.

I stopped being excited for a split second, thinking about what had happened to me in the past year or so. "No time for that now. I _need _Maggie," I replied. Martinez stepped out of the truck and stood behind me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Glenn said protectively, pulling a pistol out.

I stepped in front of the gun, making him instantly drop his hands to his side. "He's helped me. Martinez isn't like _him. _He kept me alive this whole time. I'll explain..." I hesitate, not wanting to say 'everything,' "everything when everyone is there to listen. I'm only telling once, then I'm not going to talk about it ever again," I said seriously. Even thinking about it could bring tears to my eyes, talking about it, well...I'm sure there'll be a waterfall. And not only from my eyes. He nods in response and grabs my arm lightly, taking me inside the school. Daryl and Martinez follow silently behind.

Inside it was fairly large. off to the left there were lockers, half the size of a normal locker. Class rooms were down that hall. To the right was dorm rooms. If you went straight, there was locker rooms and a cafeteria and gymnasium. I was really hoping there was some sort of showers, but one could only imagine some things.

Maggie came into my view. She shook her head, not believing I was really standing in front of her. "Oh my lord...oh Beth!" She ran to me and we embraced each other in giant bear hugs. She pulled back and gripped my shoulders, and I try not to wince since she's touch fading bruises. "Where the hell have you been? I thought you were dead, didn't believe you could survive out there. I was hoping I would never have to put you down, see you as a walker. Beth, what happened?" By then, almost everyone in the whole school was around me. I never really liked this much attention. I saw Woodbury people, Rick, Carl, everybody.

"Anybody has no relation to Beth whatsoever, leave," Rick said. Immediately, everyone but the original group left. "Beth...please. How did you get out of the prison alive?"

"I..." I look at Martinez who's being oddly silent. He nods his head, letting me know that I should tell them. "The Governor. He kidnapped me when I was trying to find Judith. He got me before I could find her. He told me he would keep me safe and make me happy. I couldn't fight him, I mean...look at me. So he had this little camp, just Martinez, him and I. He kept us alive, but..." I stopped, trying not to let the memories flood back in.

Martinez took over. He knew exactly what happened there, and didn't want me to start the water works. "He fed us, kept us alive. He was a dick, obviously. He wouldn't beat me or anything. I could fight back. But Beth...she had it bad. Every day, at least once, he would beat her. If she ate too much, he'd pull off his belt. _Whack. _If she talked too loud, or said one wrong thing, asked too many questions. _Whack, whack, whack. _At night..fuck. The nights...he would take her into his tent. The first few months, I always heard screams, cries for help. He would rape her, every single night. Whenever she would protest, I heard chains. And the next morning, she'd walk out with red eyes and cuts all around her wrists and ankles, bruises everywhere. She eventually took it, knew she couldn't do anything to save herself. Every once in a while she'd fight again, but it didn't work."

"Why didn't you do anything?" Maggie demanded, tears and anger boiling in her.

"I'm sorry, Maggie. I know I shouldn't done something. I did, way past overdue, but I did. One night, I had enough of hearing him beat her, talk to her like she's some dog. He let her leave. She asked me to go with, I knew she couldn't make it. So I went. We left his ass in the dust. I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner. I'm sorry, Beth."

I just shook my head, staring at a wall. "It's not your fault," I managed to whisper. All I wanted to do was take a shower, curl up and sleep. Then I noticed everyone was staring at me, taking in the scars and wounds. I swallowed, letting them stare. Daryl's eyes met mine, just for a second. They were dark, sad. I saw pity in them. I didn't want to be pitied, I just wanted normalcy. "I'm fine. Life is normal now. As normal as it can be. Where's the showers?"

While Beth and Martinez talked about what happened, I couldn't help but feel bad. I guess I'm just getting soft. But we didn't even look for her, no matter how much Maggie begged. We couldn't risk it. But we could've found her. She was alive, and being tortured nearly to death. She looked older now, more hardened. How old was she now...19? 20? She looked beautiful, even with her bruised skin and muddy hair. What was I doing? Thinking about Beth. Then I locked eyes with her, and noticed the beauty in her once more, and she looked back at me with innocent eyes. Then she turned hard, and said she was fine. I'd have to talk to her later. Maybe.

While she showered, I went out to take watch. This place was secure, and there were very few walkers. It obviously wasn't permanent like the prison was, but it'd do. I started to think about Merle. Even though he was a real ass, I missed him. He was my brother, my blood. He protected me from our dad, until he ran out to get away from Dad himself. Then I was stuck. But I started to learn how to fight. I could defend myself by the time I was 14. I shuddered, thinking about that life again. These people were good people, so I shouldn't be stuck in the past, thinking about the bad people. After about 45 minutes I walked back in, thinking it was almost time for dinner. Tonight, we were having rabbit stew. One of my favorites.

Half of my shower was spent crying, the other half was spent trying to get clean in the freezing water. But, a cold shower was better than no shower. I wrapped a towel around me and slipped on the clean shorts and tank top Maggie had brought out for me. They fit pretty well, the blue tank top was a little bit tight but not suffocation. I left my dripping hair down to dry a little faster. Then I made my way to the cafeteria, smelling something delicious cooking. My stomach growled at the smell.

"Oh my god, food," was all I said. Carl was scooping stew into plastic bowls. He put some extra in my bowl and he smiled at me. Carl was really growing up. I flashed a smile back, took a plastic spoon and sat down near Maggie And Glenn. In Maggie's arms was a baby boy. He looked really young, and head a head full of dark brown hair. Obviously it was a Woodbury baby with no parents. I smiled at him and he gurgled at me. "Who's that?" I say curiously.

"Oh! This is Izaac," she replies, smiling brightly at the baby.

"Aww, he's so cute! Who's is he? Woodbury parents or something?" I ask.

Glenn shakes his head at me and smiles, Maggie giving me a huge grin. "He's our baby, Beth. You're an aunt," Maggie replies.

What?

**Sorry if you saw that coming. I think it was predictable but I wanted the baby in there :) Daryl is noticing Beth, but she isn't noticing him. Where will this go?! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, I have no life so I decided to update again. Don't have much to say right now, so without further ado...**

**Chapter 4**

"You have a kid?!" I ask, totally caught off guard. Daryl had said they would have news for me, but I had no idea it'd be this! I was happy for them, of course. But what? "Maggie, you could've died just like-" I caught myself before I finished. I couldn't say that out loud. It was true, though. She could've died, been cut open on the floor. What would anyone have done? I didn't want to think about that.

"Beth, I'm fine. Perfectly alive and well, just like I always am. Now eat. You probably haven't had real food for months." I just not and continue eating. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen Judith. I dropped my spoon in my bowl, needing to see her that moment.

"Where's Judith? I need to see her, now." And just like the little girl was psychic or something, she walked up to me. She had her brown wavy hair up in a pony tail that I guessed Maggie did, because her dad nor her brother would've been able to do that. She looked up at me with these big brown eyes and tears started to swell up in my eyes as I bent down to hug her. She hugged me back, knowing exactly who I was. She was pretty much my daughter, and everybody knew that. I was so excited to see her, but all I did was hug her.

I walked in to see Beth hugging the lil' ass kicker. I smiled to myself, enjoying the sight. Why couldn't I get this girl out of my head? I looked away and walked over to the pot of stew, still plenty left. I took a hefty bowl of it and sat down across from Glenn and Maggie like I always did. Since the prison, I've gotten more sociable for the most part, and Glenn and Maggie were close friends now.

When Beth was done hugging the little girl, she sat at the table with Judith in her lap and continued eating. "Hi, Daryl," she said to me with a mouth of food.

I snort at her. "That's not very ladylike. Hello to you too, Beth." Normally Beth was as proper and Christian as could be, but since the prison, apparently she's...outgrown that personality. She looked way thinner than she used to, but not just skin and bones. She was wearing this tight blue tank top and some jean shorts, and I could see the curves no one else probably noticed. Why is she in this thick head of mine again?

She laughs in return and continues eating, as do the rest of us, all in silence. It's a peaceful silence, so peaceful you could almost there was no apocalypse going on outside. Everyone finished and brought their bowls into the kitchen.

"Rick, I can do dishes tonight if you want. I'm sure you or whoever else does them wants a break," I overheard Beth say.

"That's alright, Beth. You can just get settled in. You can do your part soon enough. I need to do some debriefing with Martinez tonight, so Maggie can do the dishes." I heard Beth sigh and I'm sure she nodded or something, because she walked out of the kitchen and nearly ran into me.

"Daryl! I-I'm sorry," she said and cowered back.

"Chill, girl. I ain't gon' hit ya. You're safe here," I said. I don't know why I said it. Of course she'd be safe here, she knows all of us. Except for the Woodbury people, but they're all fine.

"I know...I'm sorry for thinking you would." Her fragile self was showing through, but she stood up straight and wiped the scared look off her face. It was gonna go downhill real fast in she kept hiding how she really felt by putting on the tough exterior. I knew about that more than anyone.

Daryl kept looking at me with this look, like he was seeing an angel or something. I just brushed it off, because no one like him would see anything in a girl like me. Besides, even if he was looking at me in that kind of way, he was way older than me. No one would accept it. But yet...I looked at him every once in a while at the prison. He was attractive, didn't look his age at all. I couldn't just let anyone in yet, though. I needed to recuperate, pull myself together and be happy with myself for a while. Although, I'm never very happy with myself, even with another person in my life. No one could know that though. Instead, I'll put on a happy face and start being tougher. And by being tougher, I wanted to start training, learning how to defend myself. Maybe I was just making up excuses, but who better to that with than Daryl?

**Shorter chapter, sorry about that, but thanks for reading. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Sorry it's kind of a late update, but Saturdays are always busy for me. So here it is, Chapter 5! I think this'll be a good chapter. It's not as long as it could be, but it's decent. Let me know if you guys want long long chapters, because I can do that! :) Enjoy. (PS: is anyone else as excited as I am for the premiere in February?! So psyched.)**

**Chapter 5**

The next morning, I woke up with a bright sun shining on me. I slept in way late, and felt bad for not helping out so far today, but I was also glad to have a full nights rest and then some. I felt refreshed and, believe it or not, happy. I stood up, yawned, stretched, and groaned. I redid my very messy ponytail and walked out into the hall. I smelled what I thought was eggs and smiled, walking towards the cafeteria. I got myself a little lost, but ended up running into Martinez.

"Looking for the lunch room, I'm guessing?" Martinez said with a lopsided smile.

I nod and say, "Yeah. This is the first night I actually slept, and it felt soooo good." He smiled and nodded at me, and he just kept staring at me with I look I've never seen in him before. His stare made me uncomfortable, and I tried to nod and duck away, but Martinez put his arms on either side of me on the wall. "Martinez, what are you..."

"I've been watching you, Beth. When Phillip was treating you the way he did, it made me so mad. I wanted to help you at first. Then I felt like...I wanted you to be mine. Now that we're away, there's no better opportunity, right?" He grinned creepily at me.

"Um...I-I'm flattered, but I'm not interested in you like that. You're sweet and everything, but I just...can't do that. I'm sorry," I replied, starting to panic.

"No no no, Chica, you don't understand. I've been waiting a whole year. I got you away from him, and now you need to repay me. That's how this friendship thing, works, right?" he said.

"No, that's not how this works," I said, and instead of moving away from me, he pinned my wrists to the wall, getting close to my face. I turn my head away, tears coming to my eyes and feeling stupid for thinking I was safe here. I started to protest, but before I could say anything I heard a familiar, gruff voice.

"How 'bout you get your dirty hands off the girl, 'fore I break your face," Daryl said. This was the second day in a row I was unbelievably happy to see and hear the grumpy redneck.

"How 'bout you mind your own damn business, redneck. Don't you have somewhere else to be, eating raw squirrels or something?" Martinez shot back, only tightening his grip on me. I was staring at Daryl with tear filled, pleading eyes. He looked back it me with pained eyes, then they turned into something darker, and I could see the anger boiling in him. He walked closer, and shoved Martinez, but he didn't let go, only pulled me with.

"I said, let her go," Daryl said, rage coming through. He swung at Martinez, punching his jaw, which finally made him let me go. Martinez staggered back, wide eyed and looked almost scared, like he was knocked into reality. "You have one more chance. If I ever see you laying so much as one finger on her again, I'm cutting your head off. Got it?" All he could do was not and turn away, probably going to his room to hide away for the day. I look at Daryl with my eyes still bugging out. I couldn't even talk, all I did was break down into tears, falling to my knees.

I saw her fall to her knees and the rage left me all at once, sadness replacing it. I felt useless, though. I never knew what to do with girls when they did this. Without thinking I walked over to her, sitting on front of her. I pulled her against my chest, letting her sob. I awkwardly rubbed her back, just trying to help. I whispered in her ear, telling her it'd be okay. She finally slowed her sobs, just shuddering and sniffles now. She pulled back and looked at me with red rimmed eyes and tear soaked cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Daryl. I shouldn't have cried like that...I-I'm so embarrassed," she said, her face turning red.

I shake my head. "You had every right to. There's no need to be sorry, Beth. He's just an asshole," I said. I was totally winging this, hoping I was doing something right. "Do you wanna go eat breakfast?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. She nodded and forced a small smile, but it was better than nothing. I helped her up and put my arm around her shoulders protectively, and she didn't seem to mind. I inwardly kicked myself, knowing I was going to get myself into something I shouldn't. But right now, all she needed was someone to protect her.

"Daryl, do you think you could teach me self defense?" Beth finally spoke as we walked. She really got lost. We were on the opposite side of the school, so we had time to talk, but that caught me off guard.

"Ya really want that, I'll do it. Long as Maggie is okay with it. Don't want her kickin' my ass," I replied. It was true. I couldn't hit a girl. I'd yell at her and scream, but I could never hit a girl. That was crossing a line. I looked at her and she smiled, which weirdly made me smile. She was so beautiful.

_Get the fuck out of my head, girl. _

The rest of the way, we walked silently. This girl would most definitely drive me insane.


	6. Chapter 6

**Good afternoon! I'll update once right now and at least once more later tonight. I hope I'm not doing a terrible job at this writing thing. I think I need more detail in here, longer paragraphs. Oh well, I'll work on it. Enjoy Chapter 6!**

**Chapter 6**

Breakfast was quiet. I sat next to Daryl, for some reason feeling safer. Probably because he saved me from what could've been another horror story I've lived through. I finally took in the sight of the lunch room, eating my eggs. They had cut up some left over rabbit, I guessed, and put it in with the fluffy eggs. The lunch room was completely unbelievably white, with foam tiles in the ceiling. Fluorescent lights covered the ceiling as well, but the back wall was full of, what I assumed was, bulletproof glass windows and doors. The glass was grimy, but let in plenty of natural light. The tables were a typical bench seat, fitting probably 8 people on each side. I was thankful it didn't smell like rotting bodies, all you could smell was the eggs.

I was really hoping Daryl wouldn't say anything to anyone about what had happened, but I didn't think I had to worry too much. Daryl was always quiet, never ran his mouth to anyone besides Carol, but she wasn't here anymore. Maggie looked over at Daryl and I, and walked over, followed by Glenn, Izaac in his arms. They sat down on the other side of the table, and Maggie spoke. "How'd you sleep, Beth?"

I smile, and say, "Best sleep I've ever had. Why are you guys so late to breakfast?" By now, I'm almost finished eating, just picking up the last little bits of egg with my plastic fork.

"Guard duty. Not much going on out there, should be a nice and easy day," Glenn said, directing the last part to Daryl. Daryl grunted in response, keeping his head down. "Why so quiet?" Glenn asked, obviously curious.

"Just didn't sleep much," Daryl replied quietly. It was convincing, and I was the only one to know it was a lie. I looked over at Daryl for a second, then look back down at my empty plate.

"What can I do to help today?" I asked, needing something to get my mind off of things.

"Talk to Rick about that one, Bethy. No promises he'll even let you do anything but take care of Judith," Maggie told me. I sigh and nod, standing up with my plate. I walk to the kitchen, putting my plate on the counter and dropping the plastic fork in the garbage. Surprisingly, Rick was standing in the kitchen again, washing dishes.

"Rick, I want to help today. What can I do?" I asked, a little too eagerly. Judith is standing right next to him, holding on to his pants. She turns and runs to me, hugging my leg. I run my hands through her hair; today it was down, and I realized how long it got, and how much bigger she had gotten in the past year or so. I smile down at her.

Rick turns his head and looks at me. "I don't think you should work today. Everyone knows you, you don't need to prove yourself that you aren't useless. We all know you aren't. Why don't you take the day off, alright?" he said, and I can tell he's only doing it because he cares.

Yet all I do is sigh and nod. "Okay." Judith looks up at me, smiles and goes back to her dad. "She's a quiet one, huh? Haven't heard her say a word to me," I say. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking it's not too bad that I can't work. I can work with Daryl for self defense. Maybe I could talk to him about earlier, too.

"Not really. She knows how, but we just can't get her to talk to us much. She seems happy though. That's all that matters to me," Rick said, returning to the dishes and smiling. I nodded even though he can't see me and I walked away, back to Daryl, Maggie and Glenn.

"Daryl?" I said meekly. He looked up from his now empty plate and looks at me.

"Whaddya want, girl?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"Um...do...do you think you could train with me today?" I asked, suddenly very shy. Daryl looked at Maggie.

"What kind of training?" Maggie asked almost defensively.

"I asked him to help me learn self defense, and Rick isn't letting me do anything, so I figured why not start right away?" I reply, then add in quickly, "If you're okay with it, I mean."

She's silent for a moment, then she nods. "I think you should learn. If you're learning from Daryl, you're in good hands. And you're a grown woman, Beth. /you make your own decisions from now on, okay?" Maggie said. I instantly smile.

"Thank you, Mags," I hug her and kiss her cheek.

"Be outside in 30 minutes, Beth," Daryl said. I wasn't sure if he actually wanted to do this or not, but I supposed that he would say if he didn't. So I walked off happily to my room to get dressed.

The smile she put on when Maggie told her she could train...Jesus, that shit blew me away. I tried to hide my happiness, but I'm not sure if it worked or not. Didn't anyone thinking I was getting soft now. I walked outside, already dressed in some torn up jeans, a flannel with the sleeves ripped off, and my leather vest. I had no idea how I was going to go about training Beth to fight humans. She had to use her smallness as her strength rather than weakness. My mind was going, thinking about how to train her, when she walked outside. Today, she was wearing the same jean shorts as last night, but this time a black wife beater that again was a little tight. My mouth went dry and I silently cursed Maggie for finding clothes that were too small.

Today it was hot out, probably around 95 degrees. I was sweating, but I didn't care much. No one cares if you sweat anymore, it's inevitable nowadays. She walked up to me and smiled, and said, "We gonna start or are you just gonna stand there, cowboy?"

I snapped out of my daze, and smirk. "I prefer redneck, princess."

"And I prefer Beth," she said giving my shit right back to me. For some reason, it felt comfortable to talk to her now. What had changed? I never really got to know her back at the prison, and I never told anyone, but I sympathized her at the farm when she tried ending her life. I had tried before, and felt like shit every time. I felt like a coward, but it felt like the only option to get away from my dad after Merle left. Merle never knew, either. He'd be embarrassed by me, say he didn't raise no coward. That's what Maggie did to Beth. Maggie was thinking of herself, not realizing that Beth wasn't as strong as her at the time. But she's alive now, and I couldn't be anymore thankful.

"Say I have you in the position Martinez did," I grabbed her wrists firmly but not too hard. "What do you do?"

"Uhh...I...kick you in the balls?" she asked, unsure.

I laughed a bit. "That'll work, but only if there's space 'tween us. A smart attacker would eliminate all space, making it impossible for you to move." I demonstrate by moving closer to her, getting rid of the space. I felt my face get warm, but I focused on the move.

"Except my head. Right?" she asked quietly. I nod in response.

"You have to use your head, literally. Try to hit them in the temple, but if you can't, with how short you are, you could get their nose," I said. Apparently she took offense to being called short. I liked it though,

"I'm not short. But okay," she replied and hit my nose with her head, hard, but not hard enough to bruise.

"Good. If you do that at full strength, they should loosen their grip. Which means you get at least one hand free and punch their nose again, or you wiggle free completely. If you get outta their hands, you run. I don't care the circumstances. You run," I said quietly. Unconsciously, I bend down my head and kiss her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ohh first kiss. Beth didn't even see it coming ;) Picking up right where I left off. And I'm sorry if it's getting confusing to keep them straight, it was deleting the breaks I was putting in, but I fixed it! And I think I'm having trouble writing Daryl's part, so bare with me! And I'm so sorry this was late. I was going to finish last night, but I was fighting with my boyfriend and I just couldn't write and by then it was midnight so...Now have fun ;P**

**Chapter 7**

I was totally focused on learning, then Daryl got close to me, and my heart sped up. I hoped he couldn't feel it. Then, he bent down and kissed me. His lips were chapped but his touch was soft. It wasn't a hungry kiss, just an innocent peck, but it gave me butterflies in my stomach. He pulled back like he was slapped and stalked off angrily. I went from being ecstatic to being confused and upset.

_What the hell was that?_

_..._

"Y're fuckin' stupid, Dixon," I said, irritated with myself. I wasn't supposed to kiss Beth Greene, especially right after she was raped for a year, then when she almost was again. What the fuck was I thinking? But...she didn't look offended, or scared. She almost looked happy. But I was a disgusting old man for kissing a girl just out of her teens. But I probably made it 10 times worse than it should've been.

After I cooled off for half an hour, I walked back towards the school. I realized it was really quiet, like Glenn said. Silence wasn't always a good thing anymore, though. It's like the calm before a storm. She was sitting in the grass, picking it out of the ground and putting it into the pile in her lap. She seemed upset, and I felt guilty. I walked up to her and sat down, picking the grass like she was. I saw her lift her head, then drop it back down.

"Hi, Daryl," she said to me. I lifted my head, hoping she'd look back. She didn't.

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Beth," I blurted out. My cheeks burned, and I felt like I was in high school again. Why was I so out of character with this girl? I never apologized. Merle always told me that apologizing or showing sympathy or anything was a sign of weakness. And if Merle thought I was being weak, he'd tell it to me. I still missed him, no matter how much of a dick he was to me.

She looked up this time, looking shocked. "Why are you sorry?" she asked, confused as all hell. Was it really not obvious what I did?

"For kissin' ya like I did. I'm an old, perverted man. Even if it was fine, I shouldnta walked off after it. 'M sorry," I replied. My mind was reeling. Just being in front of Beth was enough to get my heart going.

She shook her head, and said, "That's stupid."

"...What? What's stupid, girl?" I asked. Now I was the one that was confused. What the hell was she saying was stupid?

"It's stupid that your sorry. I liked it," she said, blushing and putting her head down again. "But, Daryl, I know nothing about you, ya know? I can't just jump right into anything. I don't know if you're looking for a relationship or just somebody to-"

She was rambling, so I cut her off by saying, "I git it. 'M not looking for anybody to fuck. I wanna git ta know you. 'Kay? I just been kinda...lonely...since Carol left. She was my only friend, 'sides Rick. Sure, now I have Maggie an' Glenn, but...I don' know," I said. Now I was the one rambling. Why was I opening up to this girl? I was fine by myself, a lone wolf, like I always was. So why did she make me feel different?

...

The next few days were awkward between Daryl and I, which was to be expected. All I'd been doing is thinking about him though. I felt bad for pretty much friend zoning him, but I couldn't just jump into something without even knowing him. On the bright side, Martinez had barely even said a word to me. And I was starting to do work now; only with the kids, but it was better than nothing. Every day I did my training with Daryl, but we didn't say anything that didn't have to do with what he was teaching me. But the next training session was going to be different. I wanted to just talk to him, get to know him. But now, I was worried about Maggie saying something, telling me it was inappropriate to have a crush on a grown up, cranky redneck. But I didn't care. I wanted to figure Daryl Dixon out.

So I walked outside for our next session, wearing a different pair of jean shorts today, but they looked similar, just a couple of extra holes. I was also wearing a white tank top with one of my flannels I managed to keep from home. I also had my usual old boots on. It was warm out today, but relatively cooler. My hair was also up in a high pony tail. It had gotten so much longer, even in a pony tail it reached halfway down my back. It was starting to be a pain.

I walked up to Daryl and he looked me up and down, then nodded. "You ready, girl?" he asked. He always called me girl, and I honestly sometimes wondered if he knew my real name.

I nod, swallowing. I was so nervous for just starting a conversation with him. I was most definitely not okay, and I knew I had feelings for this guy. "Let's start," I say. This oughta be interesting.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi guys! So I honestly was going to update last night, and I had everything typed (on the website under copy n paste) and I went to save it (note: I worked on it for at least 45 minutes) and it said I wasn't logged in and deleted the whole thing. So, I rage quit since it was 11 pm and decided I'd do it today. Still mad, and don't wanna rewrite it. But it's a semi-important chapter for Daryl and Beth's relationship, so I have to. Anyway, you guys are awesome and enjoy! (PS: slight mention of self harm. Don't read the end of the big paragraph if you don't want to read it. Nothing big, or detailed. Just a mention.)**

**Chapter 8**

Normally, we'd start out with my talking her through things and making demonstrations. Today, I wanted to start differently. Lately, I'd been teaching her how to fight back, whether the situation needed it, or if she just wanted a good fight. Whatever floats her boat. So, I started out with an uppercut. To my surprise, she grabbed my wrist and twisted it just enough. But, I knew exactly how to get out of it, so I spun so she was holding my wrist at my back, my back to her. I flexed my arm and quickly threw her over my head and she landed on her back in the grass, the wind knocked out of her. I smirked down at her.

She looked back up at me with big blue eyes. "What was that, Dixon?" she coughed out.

"You ain't gettin' no warnin' if someone wants ta jump ya," I replied. I held a hand out for her to help her back up. She grabbed it, but ended up flipping my on my back, my head by her feet. "The hell was that for?" I demanded, trying to hide my pride in her.

"You ain't gettin' no warnin' if someone wants ta jump ya," she said, mocking my accent. She had one of those cute, southern belle accent. Mine was husky and the definition of southern. But, I had to admit, she did a great impersonation. I just smiled to myself. "Daryl? You know how you said you wanted to get to know me?" she asked randomly.

"Um...I...uh...yeah. Why'd ya bring it up?" I asked.

"Well...let's talk. Tell me about your family, your life before the apocalypse," she replied. I was surprised at the abruptness of the girls statement.

"Girl, I said I wanted to know you. You don' need ta know anythin' about my life. Don't matter," I replied. It was mostly true. I wanted to know her life, but I also wanted her to know mine. I just needed to let everything out.

"Alright, fine. I've been livin' on the farm since I was born. I was a normal, happy girl. Maggie was the rebellious one. I went to high school, but I was the shy one. Jimmy was the first and only boy to ever show interest in me. I cared for Jimmy, a lot. I didn't love him, but he think he loved me. Then he was...eaten." She paused and swallowed at the memory. I just listened. "I was always happy, ya know? Then Momma and Shawn died. And I became weak. I had never, ever thought of hurting myself in the slightest, but I felt like that was my escape, my chance. But when I didn't finish the job, everyone treated me like a piece of my momma's favorite china." She smiled, reminiscing. "This one time, me and Maggie were running around the house, and Maggie ran into a corner table with momma's favorite china plate on it. It slid off and shattered, and when Momma asked Maggie about it, she blamed it on Remmi, our Australian Shepherd. Then, when she asked me about it, I blamed it on Winchester, our basset hound. She was mad, but she never punished us. She loved us so much." She took a shaky breath in. "Anyways, ever since I tried to end my life, I've wanted to feel that numbness again, the pain. Sometimes, I welcomed the beatings from Phillip. I needed the pain. That's probably wrong, to want that." She covered her face, her voice muffled. "God, I'm so stupid and weak. I shouldn't have told you that. I'm sorry."

"Beth, don't be sorry. 'M glad you let it out. That's what we all need, every once in a while, ya know?" We both sat up and I grabbed her hand, and we pulled each other up. "Let's go in, it's gettin' late and I'm hungry." She smiled at me and it made me feel better. Then I felt bad for not letting her in to my past. Tomorrow would be the day though. It felt so right, talking to her today.

...

I hadn't opened up like that to anyone, not even Jimmy. It was weird, how comfortable I was with Daryl. I never thought that some 40 year old man would be so caring, and understanding. It made me wonder if he understood in a deeper meaning, sharing the same experiences or what. My mind was reeling now, but I honestly couldn't feel any lighter and happier during this hell.

**Okay, it was a shorter chapter, I'm sorry! But I really think it had some meaning behind it. Hope you enjoyed~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys :) Sorry it's kind of later, but today I've been catching up on sleep ;) I just gotta say thanks for the reviews and views (I have almost 2,500 views! Not sure if that's average or low or high but to me it's pretty darn good for my esteem ;P ) I think this'll be a good chapter as well. Trying to make it longer for you guys. I love long chapters but they're harder to write than I thought. **

**Chapter 9**

That night, I went to bed feeling like an idiot. I let Daryl in to my head, and I'm just gonna get hurt. But I couldn't stop talking. All the things I had been keeping to myself were banging on the doors to get out, and when I cracked that door just a little bit, they ran out. On the other hand, it felt good to let it out. I slept well that night, and awoke early the next morning.

I stood up and did my morning stretch and groan, redid my hair and walked towards the showers before anything. I got into the locker room and heard a shower running. I contemplated walking out, then changed my mind. The boys never showered much and the girls didn't care what the other girls saw. We were all the same, honestly. So I grabbed a towel and walked into one of the three-sided stalls. Apparently the boys that lived here didn't deserve privacy.

I undressed and hung my towel over one of the walls and turned the shower on, trying to keep quiet when the cold water touched my skin. I heard the other shower turn off and I suddenly got self conscious, but I just kept rubbing the shampoo into my hair. The foots steps were heavier than a girls, and I started to panic. I started to reach for a towel when a hand locked my wrist. Everything that Daryl had taught me about self defense flew out of my head and all I could do was freak out.

"Let me go, Martinez," I said. I tried to sound tough but I sounded like a girl who was about to cry. Probably because I was.

"No can do, chica," he replied in a calm voice. "I've been waiting for this, but all you've done is hang around the redneck."

"His name is Daryl," I said through gritted teeth. All he did was snort in response. My back was to him, the shower still running and I was frozen in place when he started running his hand down my back. It stopped on the small of my back and tears started to spill over. I felt something hard against my ass, and I started to sob and scream for help. His rough hand went over my mouth and he pressed the front of his body against my back. It would've been intimate if it wasn't rape.

All I could remember of that was me being helpless while he had his way with me. When he was done, I was left in the shower crying. I don't know how long I was in there until I heard more footsteps coming. I didn't even attempt to move from the floor, where I sat with my arms clutching my knees to my chest, still naked.

It was Glenn and I almost starting crying again. He saw me before he got undressed, which I silently thanked, and his eyes filled with worry. "Beth, are you okay?"

I just shook my head, unable to talk. He reached above me and turned the shower off, then grabbed my towel and wrapped it around my shoulders. He turned around and said, "Put the towel on then tell me what's wrong."

I shakily stood up, worried my knees would buckle any second. I got the towel around me, and whispered, "Okay." He turned back around and looked at my red eyes.

"What the hell happened, Beth?" He sounded angry almost, but I could tell it was the fear.

"Martinez," was all I could manage to get out. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

"I thought he was a good guy. I have to tell Rick, Beth. Or Maggie, or somebody. Okay?" Glenn said. He pulled me into his embrace, and I welcomed it. I loved having Glenn as a big brother to me.

"Daryl. Tell Daryl. Okay?" I say hoarsely.

He pulls back and looks at me. "Daryl? Why Daryl?"

"He just needs to know. Please, Glenn."

He just nods and turns around again. "Get dressed. I won't leave you alone."

I slip into the same old jean shorts and an olive green tank top. I left my hair down and said, "Alright. We gotta find Daryl."

Glenn nodded again and put his arm protectively around my shoulders. We walked out of the showers to search for Daryl who was most likely watching the fences outside. I felt stupid for letting it happen. I knew exactly what to do, but everything evaded me when it happened. I took a deep breath, trying not to let it get to me.

Daryl was exactly where we thought. He saw us coming and cocked a brow at us. We walked up to him and he asked, "What's goin' on?"

"There was an incident in the showers with Martinez," was all Glenn said in a quiet voice. Daryl looked down at me and stayed silent. I could see the rage going in his eyes. He stormed off to find Martinez and Glenn and I were left there.

...

I told the fucker before I would kill him if he tried again. That's what I intended to do. I guessed he would be in the cafeteria, and I was a good guesser. I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him out the big glass doors, then moved to the side of the building so no one could see us.

"The hell do you think you're doing, man?" Martinez asked like he had no clue what was going on.

"I told you once, you had a warning and you blew it. You weren't suppos'd to ever touch that girl again, and you did anyway," I punched him square in the face, then grabbed him again and pulled him over to the back gate. Behind the school, there were some woods. I made sure I had my bow on my back and I walked him out there.

"You're going to kill me?" he asked, scared out of his mind.

"Yer lucky I ain't feedin' ya to the walkers," I replied. "What you did to that girl is unacceptable. Yer worse than the Governor himself. We let you live here, offered you food, showers, a bed to sleep in. All for nothin'," I said, pushing him down onto the ground. I held the cross bow to his head, bolt already in place. My boot was on his chest, and the last thing I saw in his face was fright.

I pulled the arrow out of his head and walked away. A few walkers had gathered, hearing me and now smelling him. I got back to the gate and turned around, just seeing a small herd of walkers in the woods. Now I needed to find Beth again.

...

Daryl came into sight again, and since no one was around to question it, I ran into his arms, breaking down. He wrapped his arms around me and I sobbed.

"I...I couldn't d-do anything. I-I'm sorry I d-disap-pointed you, D-Daryl," I got out, stuttering from sobbing. He ran his hand over my hair soothingly.

"Sh, quiet girl. You didn't do nothin' wrong. It's not yer fault. Shh," he said, and all I could do was cry.

**So that chapter was kind of intense. The next chapter will be picked up right where this one left off. I was thinking about adding the next part in, but I figured this was enough for one chapter. Will update tomorrow! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the reviews you lovely people. :)**

**Chapter 10**

I broke down like a wimp into his arms, a day after I told him pretty much how I hated to be treated like a piece of fragile glass. But I couldn't help it, honestly. I didn't know if Daryl had actually killed him like he said he would, or if he fed him to the walkers, or just made him leave, but I honestly didn't care. All I cared about was trying to breathe while being in Daryl's strong arms. He murmured comforting words into my ear and it calmed me down the point of hiccupping and sniffling. I pulled back and looked up at Daryl.

"I'm sorry," I apologized again. He just shook his head down at me with sad eyes and pulled me back into a hug.

"Nothin' to be sorry for. Ya know, you opened up to me. So I think now's about the time fer me to do the same."

...

I gently pulled her down so we were both sitting in the grass.

I couldn't believe I was about to let everything out, but there was no stopping me. "When I was young, my father was abusive. Always had been. Always drunk, beating me an' Merle an' my mom. She'd died when I was a kid. She fell asleep with a cigarette in her mouth. Whole house burned ta the ground, her and everything in it. My dad woulda died too, if he hadn't been at the bar as usual. My mom was always our protector, trying to stop our dad when he'd start beatin' me an' Merle. Then he'd hit her, and me an' Merle would get pissed and then it'd turn in to him 'n Merle fighting. Then Merle left me. Said he had to leave, to escape him. I was happy fer him, but also pissed off. He left me with that ass when he could've taken me with. I tried running away, but he always found me an' brought me back. He left scars all down my back, for God's sake." I paused and took a deep breath. "I needed some way to escape. I started with punchin' my leg to keep my mind off of things. Then I needed more. Took a razor to my skin, lighters, started to cut an' burn myself. I couldn't take it. Even that wasn't enough. So, one day I wanted to take the razor one step further. And we have matching scars, from the same thing." I grabbed her wrist and put mine next to hers. She lifted her head and looked at me with watery eyes. "I want ta feel the numbness again, too, Beth. I want it ta take me away from all this mess. It was the one thing that was there when nothing else could make me better." I finished and looked down, embarrassed with myself.

"Daryl...I...I'm sorry," she said to me.

"Ya did nothin' wrong, Beth. If anything, yer makin' it better," I replied with a small smile.

"Thank you Daryl," she said in a small voice. "I know that was hard for you."

"Ya well, I just don' like admittin' my weakness. 'M s'posed to be tough and strong, 'member?" I replied. She gave me a small smile and I hugged her. God dammit, I was getting soft.

...

We hugged for a minute, just holding each other. I was hoping nobody saw, because I had no clue how we'd explain. I pulled back from his hug and looked him in the eye. Then I took myself by surprise and kissed him. Nothing sloppy or sexual, just a kiss. It felt like it lasted an eternity, but I couldn't help myself. I could tell he cared for me in a way he didn't care for the others, in a deeper way. And I cared for him in the same way. I tried to suppress it, but it couldn't be contained.

He pulled back and I was worried I made the wrong move. He just looked at me for a second, then his rough lips came crashing down on mine. His tongue played at my lips and I let him in. I rarely even did this with Jimmy, and now I was doing this with a man twice my age. So why did it feel so right?

Reality hit me hard and I pulled back. "Daryl, we can't do this if it ain't gonna mean anything. I can't be played or used as a release. It needs to be real, okay?"

He didn't say anything and I got worried. Finally, he said, "Beth. I care for ya. I ain't gonna use ya, and you mean a hell of a lot more to me than ya think. I promise."

I smiled back at him and stood up, grabbing his hand to help him up. "Thank you, Daryl. For everything today. For saving me, for letting me in, for ki-" I cut myself off and blushed. He just smirked at me.

"Don' worry 'bout it, princess."

**It's a bit shorter, but once again it had quite a bit in it. And now is when their relationship is going to increase in intensity. Leave a review, I love reading them. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I love the feedback this story is getting. :) You guys are awesome!**

**Chapter 11**

The next few days between Daryl and I were quiet. We'd steal glances at each other, share a smile, but we didn't talk much. I was starting to wonder if he actually wanted a relationship with me, because he wasn't making another move. I didn't think it was my job to do that, but I decided to put on my big girl pants and talk to him and shove away all my shyness and self consciousness. I was feeling spontaneous.

That was, until I was standing in front of him.

"Do wanna go walk...or kill some walkers if that's more realistic?" I asked nervously. He smirked at me and nodded. He grabbed my hand and we slipped out of the school without anyone seeing us. I wasn't sure why I was so worried; we didn't have time to be picky in this world, and it's not like it was illegal or he was gonna get arrested for holding my hand. But still.

"Why'd ya wanna walk?" he asked, not with hostility but utter curiosity. We were walking along the fences, and the moans in the background made me shiver despite the summer night.

"We just haven't talked much since Martinez..." I didn't finish. We both knew what I was talking about. I looked up at him as we walked and he nodded.

"Sorry 'bout that, princess. Haven't been up ta socializin' lately."

I shrugged. "'S okay. We're talkin' now, aren't we?" I said with a smile. We were on the side of the old brick building now, no windows on this side. I wondered what was on this side of the school.

He stopped walking and faced me. "Ya we are. It's nice havin' someone ta talk ta, even when you aren't doin' much talkin'," he replied. I smiled up at him, my heart beating like crazy in my chest. Daryl cupped my face and kissed me, full of passion. The butterflies that were in my stomach were now turning into tingles a little lower than my stomach. I blushed at the thought and kissed back, sliding my tongue in his mouth. I couldn't believe I was doing this again, but it was different than the last time. This time I wanted more than to just kiss.

...

Kissing her was perfect. I needed the escape, and she didn't seem to mind. I dropped my hands to her hips, pulling her closer but not releasing the kiss. She moaned low in her throat and I smiled a little behind the kiss. She wanted more, but I didn't know if that was the right thing to do. My right hand played with the hem of her shirt, playing with the idea of going up it. I didn't want her to think that was all I wanted, though. She was beautiful, smart, funny, shy, all around perfect. On the other hand, she was very sexy. Every time I looked at her, I wanted her more and more.

Surprisingly, she grabbed my hand and slowly led it up under her shirt. I could tell what she wanted, and I obliged. I wondered if, since her hips were against mine, she could feel the hardness growing behind my jeans. It was almost embarrassing, then I realized how much Beth wanted this.

I cupped her bra, thumb going behind it and grazing her nipple. She shuddered underneath my touch and I smiled again, kneading and playing with her breast.

...

I reached down and touched the top of Daryl's jeans, playing with the button. I was unsure, then convinced myself that I had to do something to make up for him touching me. So I unbuttoned his pants and touched his cock through his boxers. I almost gasped at how big it was, running my hand its full length. I couldn't believe me, Beth Greene, preachers daughter, was doing this. But in that moment, I didn't care.

All of a sudden, I did care. I heard Maggie's voice, yelling about walkers inside the school. I pulled back as fast as I could and Daryl zipped up his pants and we just ran, not saying a word.

We ran inside to help, but all we had was knives. I heard screaming coming from the locker room, and Daryl grabbed my hand and ran, pulling me along beside him. I figured there'd be a few walkers, but I couldn't believe my own eyes when I saw at least two dozen. My mind raced, wondering how they had gotten in, how we hadn't noticed them, how they hadn't attacked sooner. Then the adrenaline kicked in and I went into kill mode.

I used to be afraid of walkers, but I realized that it was part of our lives now. I had to face my fears. I had started counting how many I killed since my first walker. _237._ I couldn't believe I had killed that many, considering how afraid I used to be. I still was, but I learned how to push that fear away in order to survive.

There was a lot of screams and close calls, but eventually, every walker was dead. Again. Now, I was at 246. There were way more than I had originally thought, but I was proud of myself for how I handled it. I had lost Daryl somewhere in the chaos, and all I wanted was to see if he was okay.

"Beth!" I heard my name called.

Without thinking, I ran to where my name was called and threw myself into his arms. "I'm so glad you're okay," I whispered to him. He just held me tighter, and I suddenly realized we had an audience.

**I hope you guys liked this one. ;) I'm not sure how I did on this, and of course we couldn't have them go that far. Yet. ;) Next chapter may be up tonight! If not, it'll for sure be up tomorrow. :) You guys are awesome! Sorry that one was a bit shorter. The next one I'm going to make loooong. I think it'll be a good one. Review! You guys rock. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Good morning lovelies! I'm sorry that I didn't update yesterday, it got unexpectedly busy D: but now I'm ready to write ;) I'm glad you like how Daryl is with her. I know it's not very Daryl-like, so I wasn't sure if it was good or bad. Daryl's normal self will shine through sometimes though. You just wait. ;) Now, here is chapter 12!**

**Chapter 12**

Glenn tapped my shoulder and I pulled away from Daryl, looking at everyone's eyes on us. I blushed and looked down.

"Daryl is important in the group. I'm glad he's okay," I mumbled. Rick coughed.

"Everyone, go back to what you were doing," Rick said, dismissing the group. When everyone left, Rick turned to Daryl and I. "So...you two are...?"

I looked at Daryl, not knowing what to say. I knew what I wanted to say, but Daryl might be mad if I did.

"It's complicated," Daryl said gruffly. _It's complicated? What the hell was complicated about this?_

"Yup. Complicated," I agreed. Rick nodded, understanding.

"Be careful around Maggie. She'll be at your throat if she knows what's going on at all, Dixon," Rick said. "But your secret is safe with me." Rick walked away, leaving the two of us left in the shower room.

"Complicated? That's what we are?" I asked accusingly. I couldn't believe he'd say that, especially to Rick. He trusted Rick and so did I.

"Beth, that's not what I meant. I didn't wanna scare you away but I didn't wanna say it was nothin', 'kay?" he replied. I just shook my head, not understanding this at all.

"Seriously? Saying you were my boyfriend, or saying we were together or anything like that would scare me away? Why would the truth scare me?" I shot back, angry.

"It has scared ya before, why would this be any different?" he said, equally as mad now. That blow hurt and I turned on my heel and stormed out, tears threatening my eyes. I remember the day I said I didn't cry anymore. It's a sign of weakness, but I can't stop it at all.

...

"God damn it!" I yelled when she left and I punched a tiled wall. I welcomed the pain. Why were girls so god damn complicated? I knew I said some harsh things to her, but I was angry. I punched the wall again, cracking the tile. I left my fist there and hung my head. I felt the blood coming out of my knuckles and my body shook all over, needing to feel the pain, full of adrenaline and anger. Being with Beth was gonna be harder than anticipated, but no matter how I angry I got at this girl, it was worth it just to be with her.

Merle would kick my ass if he knew how I was feeling. I was in love with Beth Greene. I just needed to know if she felt the same way. "I'm gonna have ta be the one ta 'plogize, ain't I?" I asked myself. I sighed and walked out of the locker room. If I knew Beth, I'd know she's in the nursery with the kids and the lil' ass kicker. I was right.

I walked into the room and saw her sitting cross legged across from Judith, playing pat-a-cake. I smiled a little, and I was glad she was in here with Judith. That kid was the only one to ever really bring a smile to her face, no matter how bad of a mood she was in.

I cleared my throat and she turned her head to look at me. "Beth, can I talk to ya?" I asked, surprisingly nervous. I guess I had never apologized to anyone, 'specially when I didn't think I did anything wrong. That was something I was s'posed to get used to. She nodded back at me and stood up.

"I'll be right back, Judy. Don't go runnin' off, okay?" she said to the young girl. I gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the hall way, out of ear shot. "What are you gonna do? Tell me I'm wrong?" she asked accusingly.

"No, I-I just wanted to apologize. I can tell Rick what we are, I'll tell everyone if that's what you want, Beth," I got out. She looked back at me with wide eyes.

"You'd really do that?"

_Shit. What'd I get myself in to. _"Yeah, I will. Is that what you want?"

"I...yeah. I mean. Are we actually together?" she said. I could tell she was in disbelief.

Instead of saying anything, I grabbed her hips and pulled her to my, tilting my head down and landing a kiss on her lips. Nothing rough or hungry or eager. It was passionate. God damn, I really needed to get tough again. "Does that answer your question?" I asked with a smirk.

She smiled back at me. "I don't wanna tell anyone. Not yet, at least. I wanna sneak around with the bad boy in town. Kinda thrilling, ya know?" she said in a joking voice. Behind the voice, though, I could tell she was serious.

"Thank god, I really don' wanna face Maggie right now." She laughed and grabbed my hand, taking me outside. She smelled like strawberries and I smiled to myself, almost forgetting about the apocalypse. I wished I knew her before the world went to shit.

...

"Where we goin'?" he asked me.

I shrugged and said, "We're picking up right where we left off earlier." I turned my head to shoot a smile at him and I swear I saw him blush. This man was making me do all kinds of crazy things.

**Sorry guys, left you hanging. ;) I'll update again tonight hopefully. Happy reading. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Alright loves, I'm sorry I didn't update last night. I have exams and everything this week so I'm trying, don't be too hard on me! Anyway, here's chapter 13. Enjoy :) Also! Another shoutout to all you lovely reviewers and writers: Lunatr, DarylDixon'sLover, Kuddhu, NormanReedusLover, and of course MrsNReedus. Also, our lovely guests. You guys are just as awesome. :) Go check out these guys' stories, they're pretty awesome, and I feel awesome that they're reading mine. **

**Chapter 13**

I pulled him close and kissed him hard, sliding my tongue in. I couldn't believe I was doing this, but the fire between my legs needed to be cooled. He grabbed my breasts and kneaded, playing with them. I would've blushed if I wasn't incredibly turned on.

I reached to his pants and unbuttoned them, then I reached in and grabbed his length, still amazed at the size. I swallowed and my body took over, not even thinking about anything. I squeezed a little and moved my hand up and down, agonizingly slow. I heard him growl low in his throat and I felt satisfied with myself. Then he unbuttoned my pants and shoved a rough hand down, right outside my panties.

...

Beth Greene. Hershel's daughter. I was doing this with a, what, 20 year old girl? I was a sick old man. But it felt so right. My hand was in her pants and she was slowly jerking me. Her tiny hands never felt so good. She was soaking wet and I rubbed outside her panties as slowly as she was rubbing me. Getting the hint, she sped up and I reached two fingers into her panties, teasing her clit and slit. She whimpered in between the heavy panting and kisses, and I smiled. That was the only motivation I needed, and I shoved one finger in her. Her grip on my dick and shoulder tightened, but I welcomed it. It was the right amount of roughness. She went faster, eager to feel more. I could tell I was close to the edge, so with my free hand I slowed her down so I could give her some time.

She put one hand through my hair and tugged lightly. I groaned, the tug sending shivers down my spine. I slipped another finger in her which she apparently loved. She stroked faster, knowing she was about to cum. We were at the same pace, and we came at the same time. Unfortunately for her, it was all over her shirt. She didn't seem to mind, though. She looked up at me, her eyes lightening, and she smiled her dazzling smile. I smiled back at her, a goofy lopsided grin.

"Let's go getchya washed up, princess," I said, clearing my throat. She nodded and slowly buttoned my pants with shaky fingers.

...

I was speechless. I had never done anything even close to that in my whole life. The farthest I ever got with Jimmy was making out. He would try to get a hand up my shirt but I had always slapped it away. This...what happened with Daryl, opened up so many doors. I felt relieved, and I held his hand as we walked inconspicuously back into the school to get me a clean shirt.

I couldn't stop smiling, and Daryl turned around politely to let me change my shirt. I grabbed a green tank top, one of many, and slipped it on. I walked up in front of him and landed a kiss on his lips. He smiled down at me and said, "Ya hungry? Smells like lunch is cookin'. Smells like chili."

My stomach grumbled loudly, answering his question for me. We both laughed and I jumped on his back, making him give me a piggy-back ride to the cafeteria. When we got there, he dropped me instantly, and I wasn't sure if it was because lunch really was chili, or if it was because Maggie was sitting in there. Most likely the latter.

"Dixon," I heard Maggie say. A thousand things ran through my mind and I started to panic, then she said, "You wanna help around here more? Glenn an' I are gonna look around for where the walkers came in from or where they were hiding, barricade stuff more. You down?"

I sighed quietly with relief. He nodded and said, "Sure, jus' lemme eat first. 'M starvin', I worked up quite the appetite." He looked at me and subtly winked at me, then turned back to scooping chili into a bowl.

**Sorry this was a super short chapter guys, but I'm beat. It was just kind of a fluff/filler chapter, but I had to get that first part in there. You're welcome ;) Lemme know if it was any good. Update will be up tomorrow as always!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Good evening lovelies. :) I'm truly sorry for not updating last night D: I hope this makes it up to you :) Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you liked it, I wasn't sure how well I was doing. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 14**

At about, what I assumed, 3:00, Maggie, Glenn and I went out to walk the perimeter. I felt bad leaving Beth after what we had just done. I wanted to sit with her in the grass and talk for a bit. But this was fine too. Nothing was very interesting out here, so I let myself drift into my thoughts. I absentmindedly stabbed walkers in the brain, thinking about life before this hell.

I was weak, stupid for ever wanting to leave this earth. Now I had everything I ever wanted.

Minus the flesh eating corpses.

Then I started thinking about what'd happen if I lost her. She was everything to me. I never wanted to lose her. I loved the way she'd look up at me with those big doe eyes, how no matter how dirty she was, she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid my eyes on. Sure, it was cheesy. But it was god damn true. I was always thinking about her, distracting-

I was cut off from my thoughts when I heard Maggie scream. I jerked my head up to see a walker holding her hair and Glenn running towards her. I was closer to her than Glenn, so I took off. I sunk my knife into its head right when Glenn reached us. Maggie collapsed into Glenn's arms, scared as hell. Glenn's first instinct was to comfort her, mine was to see if she was bit or scratched.

"Maggie, did it get you?" She didn't answer, sobbing. "Maggie, tell me if it scratched you."

She sniffled and replied, "I don't know if it did, I was focused on getting away from it."

_Dammit. _I checked her head, knowing how close its hands were to her head. I felt blood on my fingers and looked closer. _Shit._

...

Daryl had left to go help Maggie and Glenn outside, so went out back to sit in the sun. I lied down in the grass, closing my eyes and enjoying the warmth. It was cooler outside today, but still in the 70's. It was the perfect temperature to ride horses. I missed Nervous Nelly. She was always my favorite.

What I wouldn't give to go riding again.

I sighed and fell asleep in the grass. I woke up from my refreshing nap when the sun was setting. The view was breathtaking. It was a clear day and it was beautiful how the colors fading together from purple to blue to yellow to orange and pink. I wished I could live in that moment forever, then I heard the groans of the walkers and I was brought back to reality. I stood up and walked back inside, to find everyone surrounding the make shift infirmary.

_What happened?_

I elbowed my way through the people to see someone I didn't recognize dabbing at Maggie's head.

"What happened?" I asked, worried.

"It's nothin', Bethy. You should go get something to eat, it's dinner time and I smell food cooking," she replied with a smile.

"Don't lie to me Maggie, what happened?" I demanded. The "nurse" looked up at me.

"She was scratched, honey. Nothin' to be too worried about. Just need to finish disinfecting it and it'll be okay," she said reassuringly. I nodded slightly and walked out, scared to all hell. What if Maggie died? What if she got sick, got the fever, fell asleep and never came back? What would I do? Or Glenn, or her son, or-

"Beth," Daryl said. I nearly ran into him.

"Sorry Daryl," I replied. I looked up at him and he pulled me into a hug before my watering eyes could spill tears.

"She'll be okay, Beth. I promise." He held me until My sobs turned to sniffles. It was just a scratch, what harm could it do? I nodded and pulled back.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I broke down again, I just-"

"You're fine, Beth. It's okay. Everything will be okay if you stick with me, alright?" he said. I nodded and looked down, and he did the most stereotypical but cutest thing ever and wiped away my tears. I smiled at him and he held my hand as we walked to the cafeteria.

**Sorry guys, another very short chapter. Once finals are over there will be long chapters, I promise. 2 things. 1. Let me know what you want Maggie's fate to be. I want you guys to decide, so PM me or review. 2. Next chapter will be smutty, even more so. I hope you guys enjoy.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi guys! I'm super sorry I haven't updated. Thursday I was setting everything up for my new snake, Friday I got her, Saturday I was at my boyfriends and my moms, and today I've been super busy with my sister. She's pregnant now which is awesome. :) She's 21. I'm gonna be a 16 year old aunt ;) Tomorrow we're supposed to have -50 F wind chills, so I probably won't have school (and it's supposed to be worse Tuesday) so if that happens, I'll update a few chapters throughout the day. :) anyways, on with the story.**

**Also, go check out NormanReedusLover. She's so awesome. She finally started the sequel to her first AU Bethyl fic. The first one is called Rough, the sequel is Spawn. GO READ THEM YOU WILL DIE OF AMAZEMENT. Carry on~**

**Chapter 15**

That night, Daryl had watch duty. I was kind of upset that I wouldn't spend a little more time with him, but it was a small price to pay for our safety. Since Daryl was out, I decided to go baby sit the kids for a while. I wanted to get to know Izaac and I always loved being with Judith.

I walked into the nursery to see both of the kids sleeping in the same make shift crib. Judith had her arms wrapped around Izaac protectively like an older sister. I smiled at the sight and decided to leave them be.

The nursery was just another dorm room, but it was decorated with flowers made of food packages. There were five small "cribs", though only 2 were supposed to be used. Really only one, as Judith was old enough to sleep in a normal bed, but she apparently liked the crib. I guessed all of the Woodbury kids had died from the sickness or left with there parents, maybe got separated on their own. I cringed at the thought, thinking of how a child could survive out there on their own, then I realized the morbid truth; they wouldn't survive.

There was also mismatched totes with diapers, pull-ups, baby formula, jarred baby food, baby powder, and anything babies. There was even some teething toys and I had seen Izaac in one of those colorful seats with toys around it on wheels. In this world, these kids were spoiled.

I walked out of the room, a little disappointed that I couldn't play with the two, but that just meant I could take a shower. By now it was dark and I could see the full moon out the grimy windows. The generator was running which I was thankful for. I didn't exactly want to be showering in the dark. I grabbed a towel and my pajamas and walked to the locker room. I grabbed a bottle of strawberry shampoo and I was amazed to see conditioner. Tonight, my hair would feel soft. Not dry, and not greasy. I silently thanked whoever did this.

I turned the shower on while I got undressed to see if it'd warm up a bit. I hadn't showered since the first day I was here and to be honest, I was still kind of scared to do it. For extra measures, I turned the lock on the door into the locker room. I stepped under the shower head and was thankful when it was warm. Not hot, but it definitely wasn't freezing. I wet my hair down and scrubbed the dirt and dust out of my hair, then off of my body. I watched as the water going down the drain turned from gray and brown to clear. I smiled, then put the conditioner in, letting it sit for a few minutes. Might as well let it get hydrated.

The things I cared about during the apocalypse.

I rinsed it out and remembered what I did with Daryl. I blushed even though I was alone. It had felt so amazing. No one had touched me down there, not even me. Then I wondered what it'd be like to touch myself. I blushed again when I reached a hand down, my curiosity and need getting the best of me. I rubbed it just like Daryl had done, but my hands were much smaller. To make up for it, I used two fingers. I gasped at the feeling, wanting more. I wished Daryl didn't have watch duty. I slipped one finger in and moaned quietly to myself, then put one more in, pumping my fingers in and out. I was trying to keep quiet and was grateful to myself for locking the door. I thought about touching Daryl's dick again and imagined fitting him inside me. I came at the thought and stood under the now cold water, catching my breath.

I turned the water off and grabbed my towel, drying off. My cheeks were rosy and I hoped no one would know what I was doing in the shower. I quickly got dressed in my pajama shorts and tank top, glad I was clean again. Now I just needed to find Daryl again.

...

I felt kind of bad taking the night watch duty, leaving Beth by herself, but I hadn't done much to help since she got back. She was all I could focus on. I needed to help out, and I was stuck with night duty. But I guessed it was better than the day, because I'm sure most of the time I'd be out there at night Beth would be asleep, so it wasn't so bad. Plus I could clear my head while I was on watch.

I walked the fences, stabbing walkers in the head. There wasn't very many out tonight, so I could get side tracked with my thoughts. They took me back into the past, before this shit happened. One memory in particular was stuck in my head, haunting me since it happened. That was the first night I wanted an escape.

Merle left that day, and I knew it. He wouldn't let me come with. Dad found out that Merle left and asked me if I knew.

_"Ya know yer brotha left ya, son?" he asked in his normal drunken and slurred voice._

_I swallowed, not knowing if I should lie or tell the truth. So I found a median. "He told me he'd be gone fer a while, didn't say where er why. He left fer good?" I pretended to sound shocked. Apparently pops saw right through it._

_"Ya no good, lyin' ass son of a bitch!" he yelled, pulling his belt off. I tried running away but he grabbed my arm. I wasn't wearing a shirt, since it was a hot summer day and he refused to run the heat or the AC. He whipped the belt down as hard as he could. Usually he was nicer and wouldn't use the buckle end. Today he wasn't feeling so nice. I cringed and yelled. I turned with full momentum and swung, punching him square in the face. The punch didn't face him and he grabbed my shoulders, spun me around and grabbed my neck. He bent me over the table and held me there._

_For an old drunk, he was strong as hell._

_He whipped my back for an hour at least. My vision went fuzzy and my back was tingling, and I felt blood dripping down. He gave one more hard crack and walked away, leaving me bent over the table, trying not cry._

I could never shake that god damn memory.

My hand mindlessly fiddled with the knife in my hand. I had wiped it clean of walker blood and I stared at the blade with the need to use it. Not to kill. To hurt. To be numb again. I clenched my fist around it and looked up, the sun rising. I looked down at my blade, then my wrist. God, I wanted it.

I put the blade against my wrist and pushed down, dragged it back so a line of blood beaded up, when I heard Beth's voice.

"Daryl! Daryl, I came out because I wanted to...What are you doing?" she asked. I pulled the knife away and put it back into the small hilt. I wiped my wrist on my dirty shirt.

"Nothin', just scrapin' off dried mud. Why'd you come out here?" I asked, trying to get past it the best I could.

"Daryl, I may be young but I'm no idiot." She took a step closer and tried grabbing my wrist I yanked back and turned away from her. "Why?" She asked with a sad voice.

I was weaker than a god damn girl.

"Just leave me alone, Beth," I said angrily. I knew I was being harsh but I didn't want her to see me like this. Sure, it was just one cut. Not even that deep. But that one cut can make you so fuckin' weak. I couldn't let her see me like that.

I turned on my heel and stormed off, the blood dripped from my wrist to the palm of my hand.

**Oh gosh I'm sorry guys that totally wasn't where I was expecting it to go. I wanted to make it so that Beth would go outside saying she wanted his D or something but um. My mind took over I guess~ I promise you smut tomorrow though. Seriously, I though I was going to. I guess this chapter was kinda dark, but yeah. Review me :)**

**ALSO! ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS UNTIL THE SECOND HALF OF SEASON FOUR WHO IS EXCITED AS I AM?! It's pretty awesome because the day before is mine and my boyfriends 2 year anniversary so I'm just gonna have a sleep over with him and we'll watch it together like always. SO EXCITED**


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay I'm so mad. I had half the chapter typed, and ohmygod my computer exited out of the internet. So I quit for the day. :P ANYWAY**

**NormanReedusLover is so awesome guys, just sayin' ;) Seriously, check out her stories if you love Bethyl fics. :) **

**As always, you guys are freaking awesome. :) To LizzieLinn: I would cry if they were to kill off Daryl.**

**Or Glenn. Since he's still sick and honestly he has always been my favorite. 3 **

**I have no school tomorrow, so as long as my computer doesn't kick me off, I'll update at least twice :) Enjoy chapter 16!**

**Chapter 16**

I stood there in shock. I knew I should've ran after him, held him and said I'm sorry and told him everything would be alright, but I couldn't move. Why couldn't I move? The world around me started to spin and I sat down in the long grass. My mind was reeling from what I just saw. I'd always thought of Daryl as strong, even when he told me about trying to kill himself and his self harm. But now, even as I saw it, I couldn't believe it. Daryl was fragile. He was more like my mommas china plates than I was.

I focused on the moans and growls of the living dead trying to reach through the fence and tear me to shreds. I always wished that one day I'd wake up from this nightmare with momma holding me while I cried, and Shawn would come in with a glass of milk, and Maggie would yell at me for crying over something so stupid at 3am.

But that never happened. I just woke up to same nightmare everyday.

I stood up after I got my vision back and didn't think, just letting my feet carry me to where my mind wandered.

...

This shit was deeper than I thought. It had been bleeding for a good 20 minutes, but I didn't care. It was all I needed. I had been waiting 5 years to feel the numbness again, and even though I felt weak for doing it, I was craving more. I couldn't though. I had to be strong for Beth. If she thinks it's okay for me, the sarcastic, take-no-shit redneck to do it to himself, she'll go ahead and do it too.

I stopped in the woods, looking around. This was the one place I'd ever felt truly at home, happy and free. I ripped off some of my shirt and wrapped it twice around my wrist to slow the bleeding. Didn't need me passin' out in the middle of the woods with no one around.

I slumped against a tree and only focused on the tingling coming from my wrist. I was way too tired to get up right now, so I decided to just sit and enjoy the quiet and serenity. There were no walkers around and I was thankful for that.

I sighed and thought about Beth. _I should 'pologize to her..._ But damn, was that ground comfy. I let my eyes slip shut so they could rest for just a minute.

...

I looked up from the ground and looked out the fence gate, debating on whether or not I should go out and find him. I knew he would be out in the would. That was always where he'd go if he was upset. But all I had on me was my trusty old knife.

But this was Daryl we were talking about.

I shoved open the gate and walked into the woods, searching for him. I heard the tell-tale groan of walkers and there was only 3. I could easily take them. They walked towards me with rotting skin falling off their hands. The smell was putrid but I held my breath and sunk my knife into one of their eyes. This one was a girl with very little hair left. She was probably my age and she was wearing a sun dress. Well, it was a sun dress. Now it was more like a mud dress.

I moved to the next one and put the knife in the back of its skull. He had black hair and was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a black shirt, along with some Converse. He was the kind of boy daddy would've killed if I was with him.

The last man was challenging. He looked like a dad, wearing a pair of olive cargo shorts, practical shoes and a "white" shirt. He was taller and fatter than the other two, and when I tried shoving the knife through his eye, it didn't reach his brain. I leaned against the knife, pushing it further in and hoping for the best. He fell to the ground with a thud and I pulled out my knife. That was close.

I wiped the knife off in the grass. _249_ It was quiet and I came across Daryl sitting against a tree. All I saw was the back of his head and I smiled a little bit at the sight of him.

"Daryl, I'm sorry," I said quietly, not wanting to attract any walkers. He was silent and I took a step closer. "Daryl? please talk to me, I'm not mad at you or anything." Still nothing. "Daryl?" I stepped in front of him and his eyes were closed. My first instinct was to panic. He wouldn't put his guard down like that in the middle of the woods just to catch some shut eye. "Daryl, wake up," I said louder. "Daryl!" He didn't respond and I crouched next to him and slapped him.

"The hell was that fer?" he grumbled. I sighed with relief.

"For falling asleep in the middle of the God damn woods! You could've died, Daryl," I replied softly.

"Thanks fer lookin' out fer me, but I can take care of myself, girl," he replied.

"Apparently you can't," I said, taking his wrist. This time he let me have it and I untied to cloth from around it to see how bad it was. It didn't look infected but it was pretty deep. He might need stitches, maybe just some butterfly bandages. "Let's go back, I'll get you fixed up."

...

It took longer than I expected to get back for Beth to patch me up, but that was probably because I wasn't really walking. Beth practically dragged me the whole way, and I admired her willingness.

I was hoping no one would come in and ask what happened to me, but this was about the time everyone started moving.

Glenn poked his head into the infirmary to see Beth dabbing alcohol on the cut. It stung but I sucked it up. It was my fault, anyway.

"What happened, are you alright?" Glenn asked, a worried expression covering his face.

"He got cut on a piece of fence wire. It'll need a few stitches but he'll be fine," Beth said. I looked at her with shocked eyes for a split second, then looked at Glenn and nodded.

"Go get me some breakfast, Chinaman," I replied.

"I'm Korean," he grumbled, walking away. I loved messing with that kid.

"Thank ya, Beth," I said slowly. She looked up at me from grabbing the needle and thread.

"It's fine, I wasn't gonna just let you sit out in the woods an-"

"I mean for lyin' fer me. Yer surprisingly good at it," I said with a half smile.

"Oh..well I, uh. I know how it is to not want someone to know. Everyone knew back at the farm and they all treated me different. Except for Andrea and you. But, you never really talked to me. But you're welcome," she replied. This girl. Fuck.

She looked back down at my arm and started stitching. I winced as the needle went through. "Stay still, it'll hurt more if you wiggle around."

I nodded and held my breath. When did I become such a baby?

She looked up when she was finished. "All done," said with a smile. The stitches weren't very straight but they were tight and would do the job.

"Thank ya again, princess," I said.

"It's no problem, really Daryl. I just want you to be o-"

I cut her off by pressing my lips to hers, my hand at the back of her neck. I pulled her on to my lap and she straddled my legs. She put her small hands on my chest and I breathed her in. She amazingly smelled like strawberries, and to me, that was a very "Beth" smell. It only turned me on even more.

**There's the end of that one guys. ;) Pick up right where it left off. They're goin' further next chapter, so be prepared. ;) Sorry not much happened this chapter. Anyway, love you guys :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**Good evening~ **

**I honestly don't think they would kill off Daryl. Half of the fan base would probably get so mad and stop watching it. But also in the trailer you see Carl shaking someone, saying wake up. So there's a possibility it could be Rick as well. I can't wait a week and a half longer._.**

**TOTALLY FORGOT THAT SHE WAS RAPED had to edit this chapter a little bit. Sorry guys :)**

**Here's Chapter 17! I went to my sisters for the day and I wasn't planning on it, and I'm not feeling too well so I think I'm only putting up one chapter tonight. Sorry to disappoint! Enjoy ;)**

**Chapter 17**

I was secretly glad Daryl kissed me. If he wouldn't have, I would've been frustrated all day long. I sat on his lap, straddling him. He brought his rough hands to rest on my hips, then they travelled lower and squeezed my ass. I let out a small whine of approval and I felt him smile behind the kiss. I could feel the hardness beneath his jeans pressing against my warmth, making the fire grow more. I frantically tried to unbutton his pants but he pulled my hands away.

"Slow down, princess. As much as I wanna fuck ya right now, I can't," he said.

"What? Why not?" I pulled back from him, frustrated.

"Ain't got no protection. Plus, I know yer a virgin. I don't wanna take away your precious little flower," Daryl replied. He obviously wasn't remembering anything Martinez or the Governor had done to me. But there was always secondary virginity, right? I just went along with it. No need to ruin the mood. Plus, he didn't know why I had come outside earlier. I had a square foil package in my bra right now.

"Daryl, I have condoms. Martinez must've put them in my bag when we left the Governor. He thought I would agree to having sex with him. And I don't have many options in this world. Even if I did, I want it to be you to take that innocence away from me. Please, Daryl," I said, pulling out the little package then pressing my skinny body to his.

He growled low in his throat and pulled my shirt off, then I took off his. I was glad that Glenn had shut the door when he left. The door automatically locks for safety reasons, and there was only one key, the one sitting on the table next to us.

He pulled me to him again so we were skin to skin. The contact made me want more of him and I unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. He played with the edge of my shorts and said, "Ya sure ya wanna do this, Beth?"

I couldn't talk, so I just nodded and helped him pull down my shorts and I kicked them aside. He unhooked my bra and just stared at me for a minute. I would've been uncomfortable if I wasn't so turned on.

...

She pulled my length out with small, shaky hands. I grabbed the condom off the table and ripped it open, sliding it on. I didn't want her to be making a mistake, but I wanted her so bad and I could tell she felt the same. I pushed her panties aside and stroked her wet folds, needing to prepare her. She stroked me slowly and I groaned with pleasure. I stuck two fingers in right away, making her gasp and arch against me.

I slowly moved my fingers in and out, then decided it was enough waiting. I knew I wouldn't last long. It' been forever since I had sex, or even pleasured myself. I made her get up on her knees so she was hovering over my dick. I positioned myself in front of her slit and slowly had her sit down.

"This'll hurt a bit, princess. It'll pass though, I promise," I said, just warning her. The first time always hurt, and My extra length and girth wouldn't help the problem.

She nodded and sat down slowly, gripping my shoulders tightly. She got all the way down then she slowly brought herself back up, getting past the pain and feeling the pleasure. I held on to her hips, fingers digging in to her milky, soft skin. She was so fucking tight.

I tilted my head up to kiss her while she bounced faster every time. I wasn't having sex right now. I was making love to Beth Greene, and it didn't feel real.

...

I felt a connection between us when he kissed me. I was in love with Daryl Dixon, and I was making love to him right now. It felt 10 times better than I had imagined. I was close to the edge and I could tell he was to. Our foreheads were pressed together, neither of us making much noise besides heavy panting. Our eyes stayed locked and he groaned, pushing me down on him and holding my there. That was all I needed to be pushed over, and we came at the same time. He held me there, just holding me. I smiled at him while I tried to catch my breath. It would probably hurt soon but I didn't care. All I could care about right now was Daryl.

He pulled me up a little bit so he could pull out and discard the condom. I stood up and grabbed my bra, shorts and tank top from the floor. The only movement he made was to put his length back into his pants and zip up.

I pulled my shorts on first, then put my bra on and then tank top. Daryl watched me the whole time. "Like what you see?" I said with a smirk.

"No, princess. I love it," he replied, standing up. This was still unreal.

I ran my fingers through my hair, since I never put it up after my shower. I'm sure it was messy, and I needed to tame it somehow. Then I remembered the reason we were in this room. "Shit, is your wrist alright?" I asked, worriedly.

He smiled at me. "It's fine, don't feel a thing," Daryl replied, reassuring me. He took my hand and said, "Let's go get some breakfast."

I grabbed the key and opened the door. We walked out and I shut the door behind me. "I wanna tell Maggie now," I said, surprising even myself. "If...if the scratch is still infected and she dies, I want her to know."

He was silent for a second as we walked, then finally nodded his head. "If that's what you want, we can do it right now."

I nodded back. "Thank you, Daryl." I stood up on my tip toes and pecked his cheek. We walked into the cafeteria and Maggie, Glenn and Rick were standing there, looking at Daryl and I. Rick was smiling and nodding encouragingly, Glenn gave us a big toothy grin, and Maggie just stared, jaw dropped to the floor. Carl turned around and dropped his bowl of oatmeal.

I missed Carl. He used to be my best friend, and I knew he had always had a huge crush on me. I didn't even think of how he would take it. All there was to do now was to jump into this feet first, no beating around the bush.

"What's going on, here?" Maggie demanded.

I took a deep breath and said all that needed to be said. "Daryl and I are together."

...

I suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights. Maggie was just a girl, but she put up a fight. She could lunge at my throat and I couldn't do anything back, because she was girl. This was a bad fuckin' idea.

"You...you're together. How are you together?" Maggie asked. The fuck was that s'posed to mean?

"What do you mean? I lo-like him, he likes me. Age doesn't matter anymore, and it wouldn't matter anyway. I'm 20 now. It woulda been legal two years ago. You said it yourself, Maggie. I'm my own woman and I can make my own decisions," Beth said bravely.

"What do you have to say, Dixon?" she said, standing up from sitting next to Glenn. Shit.

"I think you don't have no say in what she does. She's a grown woman. She already has the livin' dead tryin'a eat her alive, don't need a livin' woman, let alone her own sister, tryin'a make her into some cookie cutter person that she don't wanna be," I replied. I probably shouldn't have said that.

Maggie just nodded and sat back down. "Fine. You have fun, Beth. Have fun with this redneck, have fun gettin' knocked up and left on your ass like you were nothing. You're decision."

Beth looked up at me with watery eyes as she thought about what her sister said. Glenn stared wide eyed at Maggie and Rick took Carl by the shoulders and walked him away from us. I wrapped my arm tightly around her shoulders.

"I thought were his friend, Maggie. I thought you loved me, but if you loved me, you wouldn't be actin' this way. I just wanted you to know I was happy. I thought were dying, Maggie and I wanted you to know. It didn't even matter, though. Thanks," Beth said. I turned her away and we walked away, watching tears pour down Beth's face.

**Well there you have it! Had to have some drama mixed in with the smut. I don't know if I did this chapter well or not, so lemme know. :) You guys rock, update tomorrow!**


	18. Chapter 18

**First of all, DarylDixon'sLover; you made me laugh with your review with how blunt it was.**

**You guys are awesome and I appreciate all the love you're giving me. :)**

**Enjoy :D**

**Chapter 18**

I couldn't believe she said all that. She was my sister for God's sake! I knew she would take it badly, but seriously? Why couldn't she just say she didn't approve and save her feelings for Glenn? Then I started hysterically crying in Daryl's arms. When we got out of earshot he faced me, looking at my wet face.

"'M sorry, Beth," was all he said to me.

I shook my head and looked down. "It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have told Maggie, I should've known she'd act like that. I'm sorry, please don't let her scare you away."

He tilted my head up so he could look at me again. "Nothin' will keep me away from you. I promise," he replied. My heart swelled up and he pressed a soft kiss onto my chapped, tear stained lips.

I hugged him and he held me tighter. "I love ya, princess," he whispered into my ear. I smiled a little more.

"I love you too, redneck," I replied in the same hushed tone.

...

It took every ounce of courage in me to tell her I loved her. It had been true for a while, but I don't know why I was so nervous to say it. Maybe it was fear of her rejecting me. For her not feeling the same.

But when was the last time I cared about how someone felt?

That's what love does to you. Fucks you up in ways you didn't know possible. But it was so worth it.

I put my arm around her again and walked her outside and sat on the grass. It had been quiet around here lately, and it scared me. But maybe the disease was just dying out. I wondered how many people were left in the world to start...repopulating. We couldn't just let the human race die out. Judith and Izaac were our future.

I held Beth's hand as she ran the other one lightly up and down the fresh cut on my arm. I knew she'd ask sooner or later, but I wanted it to be later.

"Why, Daryl?" she asked quietly, meeting my ice blue eyes with her big, bright blue ones.

"Everything just came back ta me. I'm sorry Beth," I said. I knew that wasn't enough of an answer for her.

"Please tell me, Daryl. I want you to let me in."

"I was jus'..thinkin' about the past. Thinkin' 'bout my dad and Merle. Merle always said he'd come back for me an' protect me, but he never did. Let our daddy beat me half ta death." By now I had averted her gaze, now looking down at the grass. "All the feelings came back ta me, and it was all I wanted at the time. 'M sorry, Beth."

This time it was her who tilted my chin, softly kissing me. "You have nothin' to be sorry for, Daryl."

...

Just then, I heard the rumble of a truck. "Get inside, _now!" _Daryl yelled at me. Without a second thought I ran inside as fast as I could. I ran into the cafeteria.

"There's a truck here. Rick, you should go outside. Carl, come with me to get the kids," I said, feeling like a protective mama bear.

Rick grabbed Glenn and Maggie, the three of them running out the cafeteria doors. Carl ran to me and we took off the find the kids.

...

One man stepped out of the truck. It was the one man I was the most disgusted with, the man I never considered to be human. The Governor gave us a sick grin.

"Long time no see," he said with a smile. Who the fuck did he think he was? How the hell did he find us here? This was at least two hundred miles from the prison, thought we'd never see that sick bastard again. But apparently we were just tempting fate. Honestly, I was just glad Beth was inside.

Rick, Maggie and Glenn burst out, along with a few people I never got to know. They all had their guns pointed at him, their war faces on. I brought my crossbow up and had the same look painted on my face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said, warning us. He pointed to both sides of the school, then on top of it. How the hell had we not noticed? "And if they aren't enough, I got some guys inside your little home there."

"What the fuck do you want, Phillip?" I growled. I was so mad that he would do this to us again. Everyone thought it was over when he decapitated Hershel. Apparently this war would never end. It was no longer a war for survival. It was the good vs. the bad. And right now, the bad was whooping the good's asses.

Honestly, I was scared to the bone when he'd said there were guys inside. Beth would've been safer out here, right next to me. But he could be bluffing.

"I want that pretty little blond of yours back. I'm getting civilization back together. She's the only way for me to keep the population growing," he said with a smirk, evil gleaming in his single eye.

The rage flared up in me and I trembled with adrenaline. I couldn't' let him have her again. She couldn't go through that again, and I didn't know if we'd be able to save her.

"You ain't puttin' one damn dirty finger o' yours on that girl!" I yelled at him. That only seemed to entertain him.

"Not like I haven't before, Dixon. These fingers haven't only been on her either," he retorted, wiggling his fingers at me. That pushed me over the edge and I pulled the trigger for my bow, letting and arrow fly right next to his foot. I heard at least 7 guns click, whether they were putting a round in the chamber or turning the safety off.

"Say anything like that again, I swear to-" I was cut off by familiar muffled cries. I saw two men walk out with Carl and Beth. They both had burlap sacks over their heads, hands tied roughly behind their backs. "Beth!" I cried out to her, running over to her. Glenn grabbed my shoulders and stopped me.

"Daryl, you can't do that. They'll kill you, and they'll be lost forever. We'll get them back," he said softly.

I clenched and unclenched my fists, fighting back tears of anger and frustration. Just when everything was fucking falling into place.

...

We were inside, running for the nursery. Two big hands grabbed my arm and covered my mouth. I heard muffled yells coming from Carl. Why did this have to happen to us? My biggest fear was that it was the Governor, coming to attack us again.

My sight was cut off by a sack covering my head. Carl was still yelling and I heard a loud whack. "Shut the fuck up kid!" the man yelled. I jumped at the sudden sound, and soon we were being dragged outside. I heard Daryl yell my name and I only cried harder, knowing he couldn't do anything to help. The men kept dragging us and all I could feel was the presence of someone standing next to me. I tried hard to control the sobs that wracked through my body and I felt a hand rest on the small of my back. I froze and barely breathed.

"Do you have any last words to your people, Bethany? It's time for you to come home," I heard him say. The sobs starting again and I heard Daryl and Rick yell as the Governor laughed, pushing me and Carl into the truck.

"Carl!" was all Rick could say, crying his name over and over, and I could hear the heartbreak in his voice.

"I'll come for you Beth! I told you nothin' would keep us apart! I love you!" Daryl said and I couldn't stop crying.

**I hope none of you were expecting this, because even I wasn't. :P I might update again tonight, no promises, but I wanna keep writing! Leave me some love :)**

**Also, I haven't forgotten about Maggie's scratch. It's coming, guys. ;)**


	19. Chapter 19

**You guys are awesome, I love you all. I'm sorry I haven't updated lately, this past week and a half has been rocky and I've been too upset to write. But today has been pretty good so here you go.**

**ALSO DID YOU GUYS WATCH IT LAST NIGHT OF COURSE YOU DID I CAN'T WAIT TILL NEXT WEEKEND TO SEE DARYL AND BETH HOPEFULLY OH GOSH :)**

**Chapter 19**

I let her go. This was all my fault. I should've made her stay right next to me. She could still be safe, and the Governor could be dead. That damn man was harder to kill than a fucking cockroach.

All I knew now was that I had to get her back. And Carl. Rick was more of a mess than I was, but he knew he had to pull himself together so we could find his son. But we had no idea where to start looking. He could be a mile away, he could be a thousand miles away. We didn't know how strong his defenses were, how many innocent people would die. No matter what, we were going.

...

It wasn't a long car ride. It felt like maybe forty-five minutes or so. I was hoping it'd be longer. The more time I didn't have to be alone with _him _the better. I was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Carl, and I found his foot with mine, wrapping our ankles. Even though we hadn't talked much, Carl was still a close friend. We were gonna have to go through this together.

The truck pulled to a stop and I started to panic. I didn't want to get out. We were pulled out and the bags from our heads were lifted. On the way out I deftly grabbed my knife from my pocket and slashed it across my hand, letting blood drip to my fingers. I "fell" on my butt and quickly wrote the letters B and C with a small heart underneath. Daryl was a tracker, so hopefully he'd get the hint. God, I hoped he would. Carl saw immediately what I did, but no one else seemed to. Phillip roughly pulled me up and I slipped my knife back into my boot before he could see.

He pulled us into a small closed off town. It was basically a closed off street, buildings and apartments lining the road. I wondered if this was what Woodbury had looked like. I was never "strong" enough to go with when they even did easy runs.

The Governor took us into a small but open house. There was a wide hallway, the walls a gross color of green. On the left side of the hall there were two doors, on the right was one, and at the end there was one. I assumed one was a bathroom and maybe a linen closet, the other a bedroom door. He dragged us to the room at the end of the hall and unlocked the sturdy oak door. It creaked open and I felt a chill go through me despite the heat of the house. He set a cot up, for Carl, I assumed. Carl and I stood there, not daring to move or a say a word.

"Bethany, you can sit on the bed. Son, you take the cot. I have some stuff to do, don't think you can pull a fast one on me. No funny business," he said as a warning. We barely nodded and I heard him lock the door behind him when he walked out.

Once I heard the front door shut and lock I looked at Carl with watery eyes. "Carl, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't be here with me," I said sadly.

He shook his head at me and looked down. "Not your fault, Beth. I'd rather have someone here with you, protecting you. I know you're okay this way," he responded quietly. I missed my old friend. He had grown up so much while I was gone. "So, um, I know this isn't the best time, but.." he paused and looked up at me, "you're with Daryl now?" He sounded...almost hurt. I always knew he had a crush on me but I figured by now it'd mean nothing.

I swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, I am. I mean..not now. Right now, I'm with you and...him. But yes." I felt stupid just saying it. My heart hurt at the thought of Daryl.

...

The sun was setting by now. I hadn't eaten all day and all I could think of was Beth. I felt like a dead man walking. Glenn told me to go lie down and get some sleep. I nodded and stalked off to my room, but all I could do was stare at the ceiling, my mind going crazy. By the time there was no more light coming into my room, I stood up and tugged my boots on. I couldn't just lay here and do nothing while god knows what's even happening to Beth right now. I slung my crossbow over my shoulder and walked out quietly. It was late enough for everybody to be in their rooms right now, so no one would wonder where I was going, except for everyone on watch.

I came up to the fence, surprised no one had noticed me yet when someone shouted, "Dixon, where the hell do you think you're going?"

I glared at the fence when I recognized the voice as Maggie's. _Stupid fuckin' bitch. _"Didn't ya hear? I'm yer little sisters knight in shining armor. Gotta go rescue her, unlike you. Don' even give a fuck that she's gone," I said. Well, I mumbled the last part.

"You got a lot of nerve. If you don't bring your ass back here ever again, I'll be dead to these people. Bring yourself back in one piece, Dixon," she replied. Conceited much?

"You're already dead to Beth, why does it matter if a few more people think the same?" I said. I cut her off by slamming the fence behind me and followed the tire tracks.

...

Carl and I had sat in the room in silence for hours. He eventually lied down on the cot and I reluctantly lied down on the large bed, close to the edge. My body went rigid when I heard the door being unlocked. He opened the door and slowly walked over to the bed. "Bethany, why don't you get comfortable, huh? Just like old times," he said. Even though my back was to him, I could feel the sickening grin on me. I nodded and stood up. Carl looked at me with wide eyes, then turned away, wanting to give me privacy. Like that even mattered anymore.

But he couldn't do anything with Carl lying in the same room, could he? Of course he could. I can't give him that much credit.

I silently and numbly stripped to my bra and panties. My first instinct was to scurry under the blankets to cover myself up, but I wanted him to see what he did to me. I wanted him to see the raised white and purple scars all over me. It didn't have the effect on him that I had hoped. Instead of staring in shock, he licked his lips, eyes slowly roaming over my body. He pulled me close and unhooked my bra easily with one hand, kissed my neck with disgusting lips. I hated this so much. I started to push him away but he growled and unclasped his belt.

I heard Carl stand up and within seconds and yelled, "You stay the fuck away from her you old creep! She's just a girl, who the hell do you think you are to lay your hands on such a beautiful, innocent girl? You're nothing but a piece of shit, a bastard and who needs to be eaten by the living dead!"

I stood there, shocked. Then Phillip backhanded Carl, and he fell to the floor. "You don't want me to have fun with this precious little girl? If you think I don't deserve her, then you do, kid. Take your pants off," he said.

Did he just...what? I shook my head, eyes full of tears. "You sick son of a bitch," Carl retorted, standing up.

"Carl, just do what he says. He'll hurt us both if you don't," I whispered. Why the hell did this happen to us? Or anyone, for that matter.

He looked at me and shook his head. "Beth, I can't do that," he whispered back.

"Listen to the girl, Carl. Everything she says is true. Pull your god damn pants off," the Governor said more forcefully. Carl nodded and gave me a sad look, then looked at his feet, pulling off his belt then his pants. My body was wracking with sobs. This couldn't be real. This is just a nightmare, and I'd wake up soon. I kept pinching my arms to wake myself up, but I couldn't wake up. It wasn't a dream. This was all happening. I squeezed my eyes shut and heard him talk again. "Now, Carl, I need you to pull her pretty little panties down. You got that?" I guessed Carl nodded because I heard him walk towards me. I wouldn't open my eyes. I also heard the Governor taking off his belt. Was he going to jerk off to Carl being forced to have sex with me? This was all wrong.

Carl was taller than me now, his chin resting on my head. "I'm sorry, Beth," he whispered to me. I just nodded and felt his sweaty hands land on my hips. I tried to control my breathing and I felt my panties drop to my ankles.

"Now, Bethany, you're going to have the pull down his underwear, you got that?" Phillip said. I nodded and opened my eyes.

"I'm sorry too," I whispered to Carl. I pulled his boxers down and didn't glance anywhere further than his face. I could see the pain in his eyes, and I knew this wasn't his fault. He just wanted to protect me. I saw the Governor out of the corner of my eye with his dick in his hands, and at that moment I wanted to throw up.

"Now son, imagine a happy place, alright? Get yourself up, and I want you to pound into her. This'll all be worth it, kid. Trust me, I know," the Governor said. Silent tears spilled out of Carl's eyes and mine not so silent. Carl hugged me and it felt awkward, considering his lower half was naked and I was completely naked. But I knew it meant something. I felt him harden against me and I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering how the fuck he could get turned on right now. But it's in their nature, I guess. Anything touches it, it goes up.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered once more into my hair.

"Bethany, get on the bed on your knees and elbows. Get that nice ass in the air, nice and pretty for the boy," he said. Every word that came out of his mouth sickened me, but I did as he said. "Now Carl, stand on your knees behind her and use your animal instinct."

I felt Carl behind me, his tip touching my sweet spot. If I could just imagine I was with Daryl again, that Carl was Daryl, this would be over faster. So that's what I did. I felt carl slowly push into me, and I heard Phillip stroking himself. This was all just some sick joke that God was playing on me. I didn't want to be here anymore. I wanted to be safe with Daryl, asleep in his arms. Was that too much to ask?

Carl didn't last long, since this was his first time. I felt bad for him, and myself. Both of our first times haven't been real. Both forced upon us.

He collapsed next to me on the bed, and I was still in the same position. The Governor apparently wasn't finished. He walked over behind me and painfully slammed into me and I screamed. Carl reached for my hand and I squeezed it, tears spilling over again. This was all like a never ending nightmare that I couldn't get out of.

**Alright guys, there you go! I'm sorry it was kind of upsetting. It was hard for me to write because of how wrong it is, but I feel like it's something the Governor would do, ya know? Drop me some love, I'll get back to updating every day again. :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**You guys rock. Thanks so much for your awesome feedback. :) we'll see what happens to Maggie in the next few chapters ;) Anyway, have an update! **

The truck was easier to track than I thought. I ran into a few walkers, nothing I couldn't handle. I'd been walking for a good maybe 3 hours. The sun was just coming over the horizon and I sighed. What if I wasn't following the right tracks? What if I was going in the opposite direction? That's when I looked up from the tracks and saw turned over tanks and bags of sand blocking off the road. I walked closer and saw very faintly in the dirt ground, in what seemed like dried blood, "B C" with a very girly heart underneath. I wasn't following the wrong tracks.

...

I woke up with the Governor behind me, the sun beaming in and making me hot. I didn't even think about moving, though. I looked around silently, seeing Carl curled in a ball on his cot, fully clothed. All the memories from the night before came rushing back and I wondered if Carl and I would ever be the same. Tears slipped down my face and my body started to shake which woke him up. He put a hand over my mouth and whispered into my hair, "Hush, Bethany. You're safe with me. It'll be okay."

That only made me cry harder, waking Carl. He shot up so he was sitting, chest heaving, eyes red rimmed. He took in his surroundings and remembered where he was, then looked at me with sorry eyes. I stared back, silently letting him know it wasn't his fault. All I wanted at that moment was Daryl to come charging in with his crossbow to save us. But that was just a fairy tale.

...

I was there, just staring dumbly up at the wall. Now that I was standing there, I had no fucking clue what to do. Beth was just behind these walls and I didn't know what to do.

I was surprised there were no people standing there, guarding the entrance. I guess I had to start somewhere.

I climbed up the wall, being careful of the barbed wire wrapped around. When I got to the top, I jumped over and landed almost silently on the ground. This place looked almost exactly like Woodbury, and I started to worry that we'd have another war on our hands.

A man dressed in a pair of jeans, military boots, and a black bullet proof vest walked up to me, aiming his gun. Course, I figured I wouldn't get in that easily.

"Name and reason!" he shouted at me.

"Damn, man. 'M standin' right here, no need to fuckin' yell. Name's Daryl. 'M lookin' fer a boy, 'bout five foot-" I cut myself off by swinging at him, nailing him right in the nose. He fell to the ground and no one else was around to see. I took off, running behind buildings and calling out for Beth and Carl.

...

"Time to get up, Sugar. Got work to do today," the Governor said. The way he spoke sent chills down my spine. Carl stood up and froze, a dog hearing a high pitched sound.

He looked at me with wide eyes and suddenly I heard it too. It sounded like someone far away calling our names. But who the hell would be there? No one would be searching this soon. Someone would have some sanity and know that they needed a plan. Maybe we were just hearing things. Right?

The Governor was completely oblivious to the noise, and he stood up uncomfortably close behind me, yawning and stretching. He smacked my ass and I had to fight the urge to elbow his stomach.

I covered up my bare chest with my arms folding across my chest. I was completely nude except for my underwear and I searched with frantically with my eyes for my clothes. They were laying across the room in a corner and I walked on the cold hard wood floor to them. I crouched down by them and slipped my shirt on quickly, feeling his eyes boring into the back of my body. I stood up, slipped on my shorts and boots and looked at Carl. The voice had gotten louder and I swear it sounded like Daryl. Maybe I wasn't imagining things?

The Governor got dressed eerily quietly, mumbled that he would be back, and locked the door behind him. When I was sure he was out of the house, I went to the window, looking out. "Carl, do you hear him too?" I whispered. I looked back at him and all he did was nod. "Are you okay?" I whispered again. He looked at me and shook his head and I went over to him, pulling him into a hug. That released all of his tears and he broke down in my arms.

"I'm s-so sorry B-Beth. I d-didn't want to, b-but I had to," he stuttered out. I shook my head and buried it into his neck.

"It's not your fault, Carl. It'll be okay, I promise," but even as I said it, I knew it wouldn't be true.

...

"Beth! Carl! Where the fuck are you two?!" I had enough of yelling and decided to started breaking into the mother fucking houses. I shoved open a door but it was unoccupied, the walls pristine white, no furniture in it. I cursed under my breath, going door to door, but all of them were empty. I was surprised no one had come out to see what the hell was going on. These people were too sheltered.

I slammed my body into the second to last house on the left side of the street. It shattered open, wood splintering. Honestly, I didn't know I had that much force in me. Love does crazy things to ya, I guess.

I held my crossbow at the ready, bolt ready to fire. "Beth? Carl?" I said. This had to be it. I don't know what I'd do if it wasn't. I walked down the hall of the small house. The walls were this ugly green and I wondered who the hell would paint their walls that color.

There was four doors. My best bet was the one at the end I guessed. I was nervous as all hell, but I kept my aim steady, ready to shoot some bastard in the head.

...

"Beth...Carl...please be there," Daryl's voice pleaded. I just about passed out right then. He was here. He was really here.

"Daryl! Oh my God, Daryl!" I ran to the door, pounding on it. I almost forgot it was locked.

"Princess, is Carl in there with ya?" he asked through the heavy door. I knew we would run low on time.

"He's here, he's just shocked right now. Please get us out of here, Daryl. He'll be back soon, we can't risk this," I said, tears streaming down.

"I'll get ya guys outta there, just...lemme look for something to break the lock with," he replied and I heard him walk away, rummaging through things. I sat there anxiously waiting for him to come back. I heard his footsteps then his voice came through again, saying, "I got a crow bar. Funny how convenient that is, huh?" I heard him wedge the crow bar behind the door knob, then I heard a loud crack of the wood, a hole in the door. I guess that "steady oak" wasn't as steady as I had thought.

I walked over to Carl who was sitting on the floor, staring blankly at the wall. "Come on Carl. Daryl's here, we're okay. I need you to get up for me. Carl, please get up," I said to Carl. I grabbed his hand and pulled him up and Daryl shoved the now broken door open.

"Come on boy, we ain't got time ta lose," Daryl said, slinging Carl over his shoulder. "C'mon, Princess," he said. We ran out, not saying a word to each other. I actually thought that maybe we'd get out of there with no problems. Wishful thinking, huh?

...

We were running down the street and he walked out, stopping us. "Where do ya think you're going, Bethany?" he said to Beth. Her eyes were wide and her face red, and I could tell her heart was beating a mile a minute. I stepped protectively in front of her, Carl slung over my left shoulder.

"Back where she belongs, not with you sick son of a bitch," I snarled at him. He completely ignored me and shoved past me, grabbing Beth and pulling her into a sloppy, disgusting kiss, his hands travelling where they really shouldn't. I vowed to myself earlier that if I saw him, I'd kill him. Him doing this? Pushed me over the edge. I held my bow up with one hand and finally shot a fucking bolt through from ear to ear, and I pulled Beth out of the way so his corpse wouldn't fall on top of her. She just stared at me, and I grabbed her hand. "Let's get home, Princess."

**I feel like that should've been better, but hey. It finally happened. :D I might update again tonight, because I like where this story is going. But don't hold me on that. ;)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Good afternoon my loves. :) I don't have much to say, so enjoy!**

**Chapter 21**

We got over the wall with a struggle, considering we had a passed out Carl. When we got out, we ran. I heard shouts behind us, but we didn't look back. Daryl grabbed my hand and we pushed faster, and I suddenly felt like I was Maggie back in high school, being chased out of the house by our daddy because she was sinning with a boy. But this was different. We were running for our lives.

When we got far enough away and all noise stopped, we turned into some woods to take a break. I was surprised at how little walkers there were, but I figured that'd change soon. For now, I'd just cherish it.

Daryl layed Carl down on the ground and we sat down on either side of him. "Are you okay?" he asked me, catching his breath. I looked down and shook my head very slightly. He tilted my chin up so I was looking him in the eye. "What'd he do to you, Princess?" he asked, anger and concern in his voice. All I could do was shake my head again and tried to fight the tears filling my eyes, but I lost that battle.

He pulled me into a hug over Carl's body and he rubbed my back. "He's dead now, Beth. It's okay. It'll be okay, I promise you," he whispered soothingly into my hair. It only made me sob harder, knowing it wouldn't be okay. Right now, Daryl was the only thing keeping me from going over the edge.

Carl's eyes slowly fluttered open and we broke our hug, looking down at him. I instinctively ran my hands through his shaggy hair. It was the mother in me to do so, and I asked, "How are you feelin', Carl?"

He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I don't need your mothering. I'm fine, just leave me alone."

"You watch your mouth. An' we can't leave ya alone, we're in the middle of the woods, a mile or so away from the village," Daryl said. "What happened to ya, boy?"

Carl looked at me with big eyes, and I could see the frightened boy in him. He was just trying to cover up with a big tough guy act. I gave him a little nod then look down, letting him know it was okay to tell.

"The Governor...he...I...I had sex with Beth," he stammered out. That was not the right way to say it.

Fury flashed in Daryl's eyes and he growled, "You what?"

"No no no! I didn't want to. I'm sorry Daryl, that came out wrong. But...he made me. I tried defending her when he tried to fuck her. I couldn't just stand back and watch. Then he made me. Then he had his turn. I'm sorry, I just...sorry.

...

What kind of sick bastard did that kind of shit to people? I regretted not letting him turn. I should've killed him slower, let him feel pain.

I turned to Beth who was looking at me with scared eyes. I went to bring her into a hug, but she flinched away."Beth, I ain't gonna hit ya. Yer okay now, alright? I'm sorry, Princess," I said quietly to her. With that she buried her face into my chest and sobbed, while I held her and whispered to her, trying to calm her down. I knew we had to get back to the school, but I didn't wanna be a dick and tell her to get a move on. So we stayed there until her sobs turned to quiet cries and she pulled back, looking up at me.

She wiped her eyes and sniffled, then said, "We should probably go back. I don't wanna stay out here anymore."

I nodded and held her hand, walking to the road. Carl was sitting a hundred feet away with his head resting on his knees. I didn't know how to feel about him right now. He couldn't do anything about it, really. He was just a kid. But thinking of his hands and eyes on her...

We walked towards him and when I didn't say anything, Beth quietly said to him, "Come on Carl. Let's go home."

...

It took us hours to get back. The sun was beating on my face and my shoulders were sun burned. But when the familiar fence came into view, I ran to it. Rick was standing by it, pacing. There were a few walkers milling around but I didn't pay attention to them. Glenn opened the gate and I ran in, hugging him. Daryl and Carl were behind me, and Rick tried hugging Carl. Carl just pushed him away and walked to the doors. I gave Rick a sad look and he nodded, following behind Carl.

"You guys alright?" Glenn asked. I nodded and Daryl hugged me from behind. "Well you two get inside. There's food in there. Don't worry about Maggie, she's sleeping right now."

"Thanks," Daryl said shortly. We walked inside and he pulled me off to a vacant hallway. He pulled me close and whispered to me, "I'm so glad you're okay. I shouldn'ta let them take ya away. I shoulda done more. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Daryl. It's not your fault. All I want right now is a shower," I said, wanting Daryl to get the hint. Maybe it was wrong of me to want to make love to Daryl right after all of this happened, but I wanted to feel something that wasn't pain.

He nodded and took my hand, taking me to the showers. I locked the door behind us and he slowly helped me take off my dirty clothes. I probably smelled sweat, but at that moment I didn't care. I'm sure Daryl didn't either. He gingerly pulled my shirt off and kissed me softly, placing light touches over the scars covering my belly. I pulled his shirt off and ran my fingers slowly down the scars of his back. He fumbled with my bra clasp so I unhooked it for him, then he slid off my shorts, his pants following soon after. We rarely broke our delicate kiss, tongues lightly twirling and playing.

He reached into my underwear and stroked my hot folds. I sucked in a breath at the feeling, and he walked me over to a shower, turning it on with his free hand. He pulled down his boxers then my panties, tossing them aside. We stepped under the shower and I squeaked at the cold water. I felt him smile behind the kiss and he pulled me close. I felt his length on my belly and it put butterflies in my stomach and a fire in my sweet spot. He got on his knees and I didn't know what he was doing until I felt his warm mouth on my folds, giving me the perfect sensation. I moaned which made him go faster, and I gripped his hair. "Daryl, please," I begged. I needed to feel him in me at that moment.

...

This was crazy. I was making love to Beth Greene for the second time. I stood up, turned her around and pulled her against my body. I lined up my length with her opening and slowly pushed in. She reached behind her head and grabbed my hair, and I slowly pumped in and out, wanting this feeling to last. "Faster, Daryl," she whispered into my ear. I couldn't say no to her.

I gripped her hips and pushed in faster, and I could tell she was getting close. I teased one nipple with my hand, my other grinding into her hip. She was moaning my name and I knew we were both close to the edge. "Come for me, Princess," I whispered to her. I felt her release and seconds later I finished, filling her up. We stood there for a minute, not moving. Once we caught our breath, she turned around and kissed me, the water from the shower still pouring down on us. I grabbed the shampoo and cleaned her up. When I finished washing her, I turned off the shower and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her then wrapped one around my waste.

"I love ya, Princess," I said.

"I love you, Cowboy."

**I liked this chapter. :) might have Carl's POV next chapter, haven't decided yet. Leave me some love! 3**


	22. Chapter 22

**So I don't think we're really into the meat of this story yet, hopefully you guys will stick with me for this long journey. :) You guys are awesome! Starting out with some Carl POV, and there'll be more throughout this chapter and maybe next chapter, depending on where this one goes. Enjoy :)**

**Chapter 22**

I sat in my room with my knees to my chest, head on my knees. I'd always wanted to hug or kiss Beth, but I didn't wanna do what I did. Not the way I had to. It broke my heart, seeing her scars, seeing the fear in her eyes. I just added another scar on her, emotionally. And now I felt like shit. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball and shove everyone away, but honestly I wanted someone to ask if I was okay, but no one would know besides Beth and Daryl. Now I was stuck with myself and my thoughts.

I should've helped. I should've saved her. All I could do was obey him.

I was just glad the fucker was dead.

...

He pulled me into a hug and held me tight. "I'm sorry I didn't save you sooner, Princess," he said to me. I could hear the pain in his voice and it made my heart hurt.

I shook my head and said back, "You couldn't have come any sooner. Thank you for coming when you did, Daryl. Thank you for killing him."

He kissed the top of my head. "No problem, Princess. It's all over now, alright? We're okay. I won't let nothin' hurt you no more. That's a promise. Now, ya gotta be hungry, huh?"

I smiled up at him and nodded. My stomach had been rumbling since yesterday and the thought of food made it even worse.

"Good, cause I'm starvin'," he said with a smile. He grabbed my hand and we left the locker room, walking to the cafeteria where I smelled squirrel being cooked. Honestly I never would've thought I'd eat squirrel, but now it's one of my favorites. Which is great because if I didn't like it, I'd be sorry outta luck. We have it almost every night.

...

Squirrel and potatoes were what was for lunch. One of my favorites. We both grabbed heaping plates and sat down by Michonne.

"You should've stayed here last night. We were gonna plan in the morning, use transportation," she said.

"Don' matter no more. They're back, he's dead. We're peachy," I replied. Who the hell was she to say that?

"Thanks for that, but you could've gotten yourself killed, Dixon."

"But I didn't," I snapped. "I always come back." Beth silently squeezed my hand under the table, reassuring me.

"Mhmm..." she mumbled then walked away. We ate in comfortable silence, her hand resting on my leg. Everything was actually peaceful for once. Then Maggie walked in.

...

"What do you want?" I asked, obviously irritated she was there.

"Just seein' if you're alright," she replied. Her hair had grown out and was now in a pony tail. She had a green decorative shirt on and some old dirty shorts, hand on her hip.

"I'm fine, since Daryl's here," I said defiantly. I pulled him into a short kiss and he looked at Maggie with a smirk on her face.

She rolled her eyes and said, "You're such an immature child, Beth. If you care to know, my scratch is just fine. Won't be dying anytime soon, so you gotta put up with me."

I hesitated. I was happy, ecstatic, really, that she was okay. But the angst in me wanted to say otherwise. "That's a damn shame, Maggie," I said and turned away, immediately feeling bad. But she needed to feel what I felt.

I heard her turn and walk away, then I looked at Daryl. "I'm really glad that she's alive, Daryl. I shouldn't have said that. I'm a terrible person, aren't I?" I asked him. I sure as hell felt like it.

"No, Princess. She deserved it after what she put you through, alright? She'll get over it and so will you," he replied wisely.

I nodded and hugged him. "Should I apologize?" I asked, the guilt hurting my stomach over what I said to my sister.

He took my hand and shook his head. "Ain't got nothin' to be sorry for. You guys are even now, she'll forgive ya eventually. Les get outside and get some fresh air, huh?" he asked, calming my nerves. I sighed and nodded, standing up with his help. My legs were still shaky from the shower with him and the previous nights events. I wonder if Carl told his dad, or if he's just in his room, crying himself to sleep like I did...

"Can we go check on Carl first though? I wanna see if he's doin' okay.." I asked meekly. He squeezed my hand and nodded, and we walked towards his room.

...

I stood up and punched the brick wall, tears stinging my eyes. I'm such a god damn baby. I shouldn't be crying. I should be happy I got laid, right?

But I wasn't. I wasn't a bad person. I never wanted to put Beth through that, much less because of me.

I punched the wall again, frustrated with myself. I could tell my hands were starting to hurt but I didn't care. I needed to do something to let this fucking anger out of my system. I punched it a third time and heard a crack, and looked down and my bleeding fist with blurry eyes. A few of my bones were sticking out at odd angles, but I shook my hand out and punched again. I deserved this pain for doing what I did.

I should've killed him the second I saw him. But I didn't see him until I was without a weapon. Those bastards came in and covered our heads and dragged us out. Who the fuck agrees to work for a sick bastard like the Governor?

I punched once more and I cried out in pain, the world coming back to me. I grabbed my wrist and stared down at my hand.

I couldn't even be with myself without fucking something up.

...

I heard Carl yell from down the hall. I looked at Beth and we ran into his room to see him sitting against his bed, holding his wrist with tears streaming down his face. "Fuck, kid, what the hell did ya do to yerself?" I asked. His hand was completely deformed and fucked up, obviously broken. Beth helped him stand up and he winced with every ginger touch Beth gave to his hand.

"I can deal with myself, Beth," I heard him say to her quietly. She shook her head.

"Don't be stupid, Carl. Let me take care of it," Beth replied, instinct kicking in. "Let's go to the infirmary, alright?" she said, leading him out of the room. I followed behind, feeling a little bit jealous. The kid was closer to Beth's age than me, he'd always liked her and stared all googly-eyed at her, and now he's gone where no other man besides me should've gone. He's seen as much of her as I have.

The fuck am I thinking? This kid ain't no competition to me. He's a kid, for fucks sake. Beth needed, wanted a man. Right?

**I hope you guys enjoyed that one. It was a bit shorter but I'll make it up with the next one! I will also include Carl's POV again in the next one. Thanks guys, leave me some love. :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello lovelies! Sorry I haven't updated, Saturday night I felt really sick, Friday...I was lazy, and Sunday I was at my boyfriends and didn't get home till 10. Watched The Walking Dead...did you? ;) Of course you did. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :)**

After I got Carl's hand wrapped as best I could, I scolded him not to be so stupid. He blushed and apologized shyly, then made his way to the cafeteria. When he walked away, Daryl pulled me into a gentle kiss and I smiled up at him. "What's that for?" I asked, happy that he had kissed me. Every kiss, every touch made me breathless. It was like there wasn't reanimated people trying to eat us every day.

"Jus' cuz. Yer beautiful, ya know," he replied. Daryl was never this sensitive, not even with Carol. I missed her, but honestly I was glad she wasn't here. She'd probably try to interfere with me and Daryl, and I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch. I couldn't lose another one I love.

I beamed up at him and he pulled me into a tight, comforting hug. I relaxed into him, and he pulled away. "Not lettin' ya outta my sight again, ya got that?" he asked me. I knew he meant it. It hurt him to watch me taken away, probably blamed himself for telling me to get inside.

I nodded back at him and said, "What about bathroom breaks or showers?" He smirked down at me.

"Darlin', you can have yer bathroom breaks. Showers? Don' worry, I'll be there," he said, giving shit right back to me. I laughed and felt my face heat up. He winked at me and grabbed my hand, pulling me out to go on watch.

...

Damn. She made me forget the world. I would never be able to hurt this girl. She was so...fragile. But at the same time, I knew she was stronger than anyone could believe. Why had I never really noticed her? I mean, sure, there was the time she hugged me when I told her Zack didn't make it back from the run. She told me she doesn't cry anymore that day.

I knew it was lie. She just didn't want to show her weakness. She was a puzzle that I wanted put together. Right now, I'm sure I just got the border.

...

Beth fixed my hand and yelled at me and totally embarrassed me in front of Daryl. Who the hell did she think she was, acting like my mother? I should show her that I'm not a kid anymore. I'm a man.

I probably didn't prove that by breaking my fucking hand. That probably put me even further down than the kids. I'm nothing but a god damn fool.

...

By the time our horrendously boring watch was over, the sun was setting. My stomach growled and I couldn't help groaning. I hadn't eaten since this morning, and I followed Daryl inside. I smelled dinner and smiled to myself. I could smell baked potatoes. Even thought we didn't have sour cream or cheese or anything to put on top, I couldn't wait to eat them. I hadn't seen a garden out here, but there always seemed to be fresh veggies and fruits at the ready. Maybe I'd scope it out tomorrow.

Daryl scooped us hardy bowls of squirrel or rabbit stew, I honestly didn't care. I grabbed two potatoes and sat down by Glenn and Izaac. Glenn gave me a sympathetic look but said nothing. "Where's Maggie?" I asked. I wanted to see my sister so badly.

"In our room. Said she didn't feel good," he said between chewing. I just nodded and started eating, trying not to think of the burning sensation Daryl's hand was leaving on my thigh where it rested. We ate quietly, no one feeling like talking much. Glenn finished before Daryl and I, leaving us for watch. When we finished, Daryl took my hand.

"We should go outside an' talk. Ya know, like when ya first got back here," he said somewhat...shyly. Daryl, of all people was being shy.

I smiled and nodded, eager to do it. "I'd love that." We walked out into the warm night, the sky lit up with a million stars. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms protectively around me. "Watcha wanna talk about?" I asked, curiosity ringing in my voice.

I felt him shrug behind me. "I wanna know more about what goes on inside Beth Greene's head."

It caught me off guard. No one wanted to know what I was thinking, or wanted to actually get to know me. Everyone already thought they knew me. "It's a fucked up world that you don't wanna venture in," I said shortly.

He fake gasped. "Beth Greene, did you just swear?" I smiled and leaned my head back against his shoulder. "Really, though. I want ya to open up. I know ya need it." I sighed and nodded. I knew I needed it too.

...

I held her tight to me. I didn't want anything to hurt her anymore. I wanted her to open up to me. I knew that's what she needed because it was all that I needed.

"I've already told you about me, Daryl. Not much else to say," she said. I knew it was a lie. She was a terrible liar.

"Don' lie to me, Princess. I know ya got more secrets. There's more to ya than jus' weakness. I ain't as stupid as I seem," I replied. She closed her eyes and nodded a little bit. "I know it's hard. Jus' let me in a little bit more. A'right?"

She nodded again and took a deep breath and started. "I was always the happy one. No one wanted to get to know me, or rather thought they already did. I lied about not having these needs for pain until my momma died. At school, they'd pick on me. Always made fun of me for bein' "stuck up." One time, these girl found me in a bathroom. Cornered me in the big stall and beat me up, yelling at me to fight back but I couldn't. I was too nice, even to the girls beating the shit outta me. I told momma I was stayin' at a friends house that night, but I called Maggie and asked her to spend the night in the barn with me. It was our safe haven. I told Maggie everything. She hugged me when I cried, put ice on my black eyes." She started to choke up, so I rubbed her leg for comfort. "Now my own sister hates me. The boys in school, they all tried to get in my pants. Said they wanted fresh meat. Everyone knew I was a virgin. I went to a party once, one that a senior boy invited me to. I was so excited. No one had ever invited me to one before. He brought me behind his barn, and pinned me against. Started kissin' me and tried snaking his hand up my dress. I kneed him in the balls and ran away," she said with a smile on her face. "I just wanted to fit in, ya know? Now that's all petty problems. And I kick myself for lettin' that shit ever get to me." She shrugged and sighed. "My mind is stupid. My problems are nothing compared to yours."

I held her tighter to me and shook my head, whispering into her hair. "Everyone has their own problems an' deals with things differently, Beth. I didn't have your problems because I didn't go to school. If I did, I would know how ya feel exactly. For now, all I can do is try to understand."

"That's all I can ever ask for," she whispered and I kissed her cheek, enjoying this time.


	24. Chapter 24

**Good afternoon! I'm in a great mood today, so I decided to update a bit early. :) I may even update once more! But the weather is great today, it's gone up to 45F which is lovely. I'm in south-eastern WI so it's an amazing change. Anyway, on with the next chapter! :)**

I felt safe in his arms. Once you could push away the moans and groans of the walkers, I could peaceful. We sat there in comfortable silence and Daryl lied down on the grass, his back probably hurting from sitting the way he was. I leaned back against him and soon after I heard him lightly snoring. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes, wanting to get some rest too.

...

I woke up in the Governor's bed again. I was tied to the bed, spread eagle but fully clothed. Phillip's eyes roamed over my body, and Daryl was standing in the corner, 4 walkers chained just far enough away from him to not get him. He stared at me with fear in his eyes. Maggie suddenly walked in and glared at me, shaking her head.

"You're a slut, Beth. All you want is a good fuck, and that's all that stupid redneck will give ya. You're a whore, and I never wanna see you again. He's a pedophile, Beth, and you chose him over your own blood. What would daddy think? He deserves to be killed, a sick bastard like him. You deserve to watch," Maggie said. My eyes burned with tears and I tried to speak, but I couldn't. I wanted to fight back, tell her about Phillip, how disgusting he was. No words came out.

She nodded at the Governor and he walked over to Daryl, who was completely helpless and unhooked the chains. Maggie and the Governor watched with wicked smiles on their faces while Daryl was eaten alive. I couldn't make a sound, and I couldn't breathe. They turned back to me and their eyes were glazed over, rotten skin falling off their faces. They were walking towards me and I thrashed around and tried to scream, but nothing happened. They each leaned over to take a bite out of me-

...

"Beth, wake up!" I yelled for the fifth time. She was screaming and kicking and attracting every fucking walker within miles of this place.

She shot up, eyes wide and full of tears, forehead beaded with sweat. She turned to me and hugged me, sobbing. The hell just happened? "'S a'right, Princess. I'm here, it's okay. It was jus' a dream," I said quietly, petting her hair and trying to calm her.

"I'm s-sorry," she managed to choke out. I held her tighter and shook my head.

"Nothin' ta be sorry for. I understand, we all have bad dreams," I replied, not exactly knowing what to say. I didn't know what she dreamed about, but it didn't matter. Obviously it shook her up, and I just needed to be there for her.

...

Once I calmed down, Daryl walked me inside to my room. "Will you stay with me tonight?" I asked quietly. I didn't want to have another dream like that, but if I did, I wanted him to wake me up. Plus, Daryl Dixon sleeping in my bed? Hell yeah.

He took my hand and nodded. "Sure, Princess." He shut the door and stripped off his vest, then his sleeveless shirt. His back was to me and I just stared at his scars and the way his muscles rippled with every move. I took in all that I could, then he took off his pants, leaving him in some boxer briefs. When he turned around, I noticed they fit him well. Very well. "See somethin' ya like?" he asked with a smirk. I blushed and looked up at him, then took off my tank top and shorts, leaving me in a navy and white bra with matching panties. I was glad Maggie had found these on a run once. She gave them to me when she found out they didn't fit.

He looked me up and down and I smirked back at him. "See somethin' ya like?" I mocked him. He pulled me to him, our warm skin touching and creating electricity. He didn't kiss me, just kept his lips millimeters away from mine, teasing. I looked at him then closed my eyes and aggressively pressed my lips to his. His hands stayed on my hips and mine were on his.

He started moving his hands up to unhook my bra, kneading one breast while moving the other hand to my panties. I slowly pushed down his boxer briefs, releasing his length. I still couldn't believe how big he was when I touched him. He pulled my panties down to my ankles and I stepped out of them, pulling him over to the bed. He played with my clit and teased me, running one finger between my folds. "Please," I moaned out breathlessly. This made him shove one finger in me and I cried out.

...

She was so hot. She was so tight and wet, I had to hold back from pounding into her right there and then. I kissed down her neck to her breasts, sucking on a nipple while playing with her pretty pink pussy. I kissed down her stomach and looked up at her. "What are you doing?" she asked hesitantly.

"Don' worry, Princess. 'M makin' ya feel better," I replied and moved my mouth onto her clit, sucking softly while using two fingers to pump in and out of her. This earned me loud moans and hands gripping my hair. I was incredibly hard and used my free hand to stroke myself.

After a few minutes of pleasing her with my tongue and mouth, she came. She sat there panting with her eyes closed, but I wasn't done. I pushed her higher up on the bed and swiftly slipped a condom on. I pushed her legs up so her knees were to her chest and surprised her by shoving deep inside. She let out a cry of pleasure and I started out agonizingly slow, making her anxious. "Whaddya want, baby girl?" I asked gruffly.

"Faster, Daryl. Please," she moaned. That was all I needed. I shoved my length into her faster and harder, close to the edge. She cried out once more and felt her juices surround my length which pushed me over, and I slowed my thrusts and collapsed next to her, throwing the condom into the garbage. I put her under the blanket and tucked her body right next to me, both of us still naked. "Love ya, Princess," I said into her hair.

She snuggled against me and said, "I love you too, Cowboy."

...

I woke up the next morning feeling sore between my legs. But it was a good kind of sore.

Daryl was up and getting dressed and I blushed, remembering the previous night. "Mornin'. Rick wants ta go on a run today, gettin' low on some supplies, canned goods. Wanna come with?" he said. I'm sure I looked ridiculous; my jaw was dropped open. I was never offered to go on runs.

I quickly nodded. "Of course. Why am I allowed to go on this one?" I asked, sincerely curious.

"I been teachin' ya self defense an' I think ya can handle yerself, right?" he answered. I thought back to when the Governor took me the second time, how I couldn't handle myself then. But I just nodded again, happy to go along. "Then get dressed, leavin' in thirty minutes." I stood up and quickly slipped on my bra and panties, pulling on the same shorts I'd been wearing and a clean white tank top. I fixed my wildly curly hair into a pony tail and we walked out to eat breakfast before leaving.

I still hadn't seen Maggie since I yelled at her. My dream came back to me and I shuddered, shaking it away. "Who's all comin'?" I asked.

"Rick, Michonne, Bob, Sasha, you an' me," he replied quickly, shoveling eggs into his mouth. I nodded and ate mine, wanting to fill up before leaving. When we were done, we stood at the fences, getting weapons together. I had my knife as usual and Rick handed me a Makarov. It was always one of my favorites to shoot.

"Thanks," I said and quickly tucked it into my thigh holster along with my knife.

"We're heading about an hour away. We get there, get in and out as fast as we can, take whatever is useful. Got it?" Rick said. We all nodded in response and Daryl took my hand.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."


	25. Chapter 25

**Good evening lovelies. :) My day got better, my sister is taking me to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago for my birthday because she promised me when she was 14 that she would take me. 7 years later...we both remember that promise. It's for my sweet 16, and I'm super excited! If you're wondering, my birthday is March 3rd. ;) Enough of my life, have an update!**

Just as we were getting into the trucks, Carl ran up. Damn kid. "Dad! Can I come?" he asked, hurt in his voice. Rick looked at me then back at Carl. "Please dad? I can handle myself. I protected you when we were on our own after the prison, I can handle it," he pleaded.

"What if a living being attacks, then what are you gonna do then son? You're staying here," Rick said, getting angry.

"Beth is going and she sure as hell couldn't protect herself," Carl shot back. Too far.

"Watch what ya say, kid. Beth's older than you, knows how to defend herself now. This is for us to do," I said, fumed. Fuckin' kid.

Carl turned on his heel and stormed off. Rick gave me a look that said thank you. He never let the kid come on runs, and I was fine with that. We looked at Beth who was looking at her feet, eyes glazed over, probably thinking about her memories. I wrapped my arms around her and nodded to the trucks. "Let's get goin'. Don' got all day." Everyone piled into the trucks, Rick, Michonne, Sasha and Bob in the first truck, and Beth and I in the other. We pulled out and I followed Rick down the gravel road.

...

I snapped out of my memories and I was in a truck. I started to panic until I looked over at Daryl and remembered where we were going. He looked over at me and took my hand, keeping one on the steering wheel. "Ya a'right?" he asked. I just nodded. "Carl shouldn'ta said that."

I shook my head that time. "He had every right to. It's true. I couldn't protect myself in many situations. Why am I coming on this run?" I asked.

"Figured ya needed to get yer mind off of things. Plus, I said ya were never gettin' outta my sight again, 'member?" he said with a smirk. I smiled at him and nodded.

"I remember," I replied, blood going to my face as I blushed, remembering the night before. It was like a dream.

Then I remembered my actual dream and I squeezed my eyes shut and apparently I squeezed Daryl's hand.

"Hey, what's the matter? Yer squeezin' pretty hard," he said. I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"Just my dream from last night. Tryin' to get it out of my head," I replied smoothly.

"Ya wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe later," I said. The rest of the ride was comfortably silent and I watched out the window at our surroundings, the walkers, the trees, the dead grass from the drought we were in. I never knew this would be my world. I always thought that was just movies and TV shows. This was real though. Everything that happened was real.

...

I stepped out of the truck and slung my crossbow over my shoulder then helped Beth out of the truck. We looked over the barren town and took it all in. There were very few walkers and we easily took them down with knives.

"I'll check the grocery store with Michonne, get as much as we can. Sasha and Bob, you guys check for clothes for anyone, grab what there is. Daryl and Beth, I want you guys to look for things for the kids. Diapers, Pull-Ups, blankets, hell, if you can find some small beds, take 'em. Kids don't need to be sleeping in those damned cribs anymore," Rick said. We all nodded at our tasks and we dispersed. Beth and I walked towards the Baby's-R-Us store. Why the hell did Rick put me on baby duty?

"Careful when we go in. I got your back, but always watch yer six. Got that?" I told her. No foolin' around right now, she needed to focus.

"What does that mean?" she asked. I sighed at her lack of knowledge, but cut her some slack.

"Like the numbers on a clock. I'm standing at your three. Your six is your back," I said and banged on the glass a few times to draw the walkers to the front. A few came up and I banged twice more and waited a few minutes then opened the door. There was only about 6 and Beth and I easily took care of them. I was proud of how well she worked.

...

_252. _Still keeping count. We walked in and I took the left side of the store.

"Yell or shoot if ya need help. A'right? Don' save your ego if it won't save yer life," he said and I nodded, understanding. It was now or never.

**Alright that was a shorter chapter but I'll update again tomorrow and finish the run and I'll show Carl's POV again. :) Hope your enjoying it!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Sorry I never updated last night! But today I had to update now or I never would. WE Engergies is cutting into my gas lines (with no notifications, thank you very much -.-) and now they turned off my heat! Only thing I was worried about was my snake but the power is still on so just had to turn up her heat mat! It's cold, but we have space heaters.**

**I don't know why I bother telling you guys about my life, you're here to read. ;P So on with the story! :)**

**Chapter 26**

I looked at all the clothes and stared at them with wonder, forgetting about this apocalypse. I pulled a purple shirt with a smiling flower off the rack and smiled at it, imaging Judy in it. I put it into one of the tote bags I had. I started pulling any clothes out for the kids that would fit, then picked out more for when they outgrow these ones. Had to think ahead. If they lived that long.

_Don't think that, Beth. They'll make it. We all will._

I walked on in search of other useful things, formula, bottles, all that fun stuff. All I could think about was having a kid of my own one day. Hopefully with Daryl. But could I really bring a child into this world? I mean..we had to repopulate eventually. Why not?

I'd probably scare Daryl off if I told him I wanted to bring a kid into this world. We had barely even been together for that long. Plus, what happened if I needed a C-section like Lori? End up dying on the floor, leaving behind the one I love and a new born baby.

I was torn from my thoughts when I felt hands on my head and I smiled to myself, thinking it was Daryl surprising me.

I couldn't get that lucky. The hands gripped my hair and I panicked, unable to scream. I pulled out the knife from my holster and turned just far enough for the knife to get through it's head. It's grip loosened and I pulled away, gasping for air. I felt the back of my head for blood but there was nothing. I let out a sigh of relief.

I continued my now cautious search for something useful.

...

I was pushing the heavy cart with the small beds in them. Why the fuck was I stuck on baby duty? I turned a corner and put baby rattles and colorful toys into the cart. I went down the next aisle and stopped in my tracks. "Shit." There was a whole herd, probably thirty total of them. I pulled out my knife and started stabbing the fuckers in the head. One by one they dropped. Thought I was doing pretty damn good, till I was tackled to the ground by a surprisingly obese walker. It was bloated and moaning, trying to tear at my flesh. I struggled to kill it and another fell on me, their weight overwhelming me. I was just about to yell out for Beth when a knife went through each head.

"Get up Daryl we gotta go!" Beth yelled at me. I shoved the dead walkers off of me and scrambled up, getting away from the living ones as fast as I could. I grabbed Beth's hand and we ran out. Everyone was already back at the trucks and I opened the door for Beth to throw the bags in and she hopped in. Walkers started pouring out of almost every building. Why the fuck were they waiting till now to come out?

"Gotta leave this place guys, let's fuckin' go!" I yelled and got into the truck, turning it on and tearing off back to the prison.

...

Why the fuck did I have to stay here? I was almost 17 now, that's not old enough to go on runs? I was pissed off and took off to the woods. I needed to kill something. I was sitting up in a tree when I saw a huge 10-pointer. We hadn't had deer in months. I pulled out my gun and was glad I had a gigantic suppresser. I shot a bullet right through it's eye.

"Hah. Fucker," I said, a grin on my face. I jumped down from the tree I was in and I heard a rustling from my right. I brought my gun up to a girl, 16 maybe, who was holding her hands up, a scared as hell look on her face. She was covered in dirt and dried blood. I dropped my arms to my sides.

She put her hands down and spoke shakily. "Do...do you have a camp around here? I've been on my own. I lost my...my brother. He died. Just a few days ago. I promise I won't hurt you, just...please."

I swallowed and nodded. "Yeah. One condition."

She widened her eyes at me. "W-What..?"

"No, don't get that idea in your head. I'm not a sick bastard. You just gotta help drag this deer back. Only about a mile away."

She smiled at me and nodded. "Sure." I took her in. She had dark brown hair and equally as dark brown eyes. She was short and skinny, but had the same muscles everyone did from the work everyone has done since the beginning of the apocalypse. She was beautiful.

...

We pulled into the school again and Glenn and Maggie pulled open the gates for us. I needed to talk to her. I couldn't be mad at her, we could die any day, any second. We couldn't waste our lives being mad. I jumped out of the truck before it even stopped and ran to Maggie, hugging her tightly.

"I'm sorry Maggie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of what I said, I was just mad and not thinking straight I just wanted you to be happy since I was happy. My life has been hell and I just wanted to be happy with my sister and-"

"Beth! It's fine. I understand, I forgive you and I'm sorry too, just get off me," she replied, laughing. I was glad all the air was cleared. That was easy.

I looked up and saw Carl dragging a huge deer. I grinned a face splitting smile, until I saw a girl helping him. Who the hell was that?

**Sorry this was a shorter chapter, but I liked where I cut it off. Enjoy! I'll update tomorrow:) Please review!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Good evening :) with the new character, I honestly wasn't planning on her. I was gonna have a man or threat come out, but I decided she needed to be in here. Without further ado...**

**OH GOSH GUYS I didn't realize I never finished this chapter and had a super busy weekend. I'll update chapter 28 after this one, just for forgetting! My sincerest apologies.**

**Chapter 27**

We came back just in time for Dad and everyone else to get back. I hoped he would be proud of me for bringing back this deer. Daryl hadn't gone hunting in at least a week, let alone bring back a deer. When they saw me, they all just stared. At first I thought it was because of this buck, but then I remembered the girl behind me.

When we got in ear-shot of them, my dad spoke. "Who's that, Carl?"

"Your name is Carl?" she said, only loud enough for me to hear with a smirk on her face. "Name's Vanessa."

"This is Vanessa," I said without missing a beat. "Found her out hunting. She was alone and said she lost her brother to the walkers. Helped me drag this deer back. I shot it, dad." I needed to get him focused on being proud of me for once. Like he ever really payed attention to me in the first place.

He nodded and I knew he'd talk to me later. "Good find, Carl. Let's get it in here so we can gut it and skin it."

I smiled and we pulled it back inside the gates and brought it where nothing could get at it. Hopefully Daryl would teach me how to skin it and everything. I wanted to help out more around here, since I wasn't capable of going on runs.

...

Carl brought back a girl? The hell was he thinking? He obviously didn't know a damn thing about her. But damn, that deer he brought too looked good. Had to get workin' on skinning it before dinner. I kissed Beth on the cheek and told her I'd go dress the deer and started walking away.

"Wait, Daryl! Can you teach me how to skin and gut a deer? I wanna help out, and Dad doesn't let me outside of these gates," Carl called out to my. I mumbled a curse under my breath and sighed.

"Sure, kid. Come on, now, gotta hurry," I replied reluctantly. Maybe Beth could get a few things outta that Vanessa girl with Carl away from her anyway.

...

I walked up to Vanessa after Daryl left with Carl. She was really pretty, I'd give her that. And she was obviously strong enough to make it on her own. She had chocolaty brown hair with natural honey highlights from the sun. She had tan skin and a few freckles, and dark brown eyes. All she had on was a muscle shirt with a sports bra underneath and some old worn out shorts, along with mid-calf high black laced up combat boots. She only looked a couple years younger than me, and I smiled warmly at her.

"Hey Vanessa, I'm Beth. Welcome to our camp!" I said cheerfully. She smiled back at me.

"Call me Van. Vanessa is too preppy, Nessa reminds me of the Lochness monster," she replied.

"Well let's go get ya something to eat, you're probably starving. You can tell me about what's happened to you during all this shit," I said, hoping not to sound pushy. But, I wanted to get some answers out of her, see if she was as safe as she seemed.

She nodded eagerly and we walked inside towards the cafeteria. "Well when it all first happened, I was out hiking with my brother and dad. We did that almost every weekend, kind of our thing since my mom died. Then there was this...thing, a roamer. I thought it was some kind of joke at first. Till it took a bite out of my dad's neck. So I took off with my brother, Jasper. Left behind my dog, my friends, everything. We lived in the woods for a while. We already had knives on us and we always took food with us when we went hiking, so we were set for a week. We came across bad groups, lived pretty easily. We never really stayed with a group, just us two. It was easy going until about a week ago. We were running from a pretty big herd, and we stopped to catch our breath. We weren't paying attention and...and..." she paused, sniffling. The memory was probably still raw in her mind. My heart hurt for her. "And two roamers got him. Couldn't amputate the bites. One was the back of his neck, the other dug into his stomach. Been on my own since."

She finished when we walked into the cafeteria. Fresh fruit and veggies were always served and she grabbed a plate, piling it high. "I'm sorry, Van. About your dad and brother." She seemed to check out. I was curious about her mom but I didn't pry.

"Not your fault. Shit happens, gotta get over it, right? Tell me about you," she replied, shoveling food into her mouth.

I didn't want to open up, but she had opened up to me. I could tell her a little bit. "I lived on a farm with my sister, Maggie who's still here with us, my daddy, my brother Shawn and my momma. Momma and Shawn died in the beginning. My daddy thought there was a cure, kept as many walkers in one of our barns as he could. Then we met Rick's group and we've been together since. Well, for the most part. We found a prison, cleared it out and lived there for a while. Then this group, they were run by a man called the Governor, lived in a 'safe haven' named Woodbury. The Governor wanted our prison, we said no. He chopped off my daddy's head right in front of us. Blew the prison up, drove all of us apart from each. He kidnapped me and I was with him and his second in command for about a year. Things happened, he let me and his man, Martinez, go. Then Daryl found us, brought us back here. Martinez tried...doing things to me. He's dead now. And now...here we are," I explained. I talked about it like it was a movie, trying not to relive everything. She bumped her shoulder into mine sympathetically.

"I can see the scars on your arms and legs, I'm sure there's more. That man, the Governor, he did that to you?" she asked. I nodded slightly and looked down, ashamed of the scars he left on my body. "And the redneck, Daryl is his name? You're his, no?"

I blushed and cracked a smile. "Yeah, he helped me with all this shit. Hardly leaves my side anymore since..." I trailed off, not telling her about what happened with me and Carl. She didn't need to know that.

...

After I told Carl everything he needed to know and showed him how to do it, we brought the deer inside for Rick to start cooking.

"Thanks, Daryl," Carl said, sounding sincerely happy for what I did.

I nodded at him and he spoke again. "I'm sorry about what happened with Beth. I didn't want to, I swear. I was too weak to protect her till you got there, and I'm sorry. I just added another emotional scar to her and-"

"Shuddup, kid. I know it ain't your fault. Nothin' ya coulda done. Now go on, get to yer new girlfriend," I said with a wink, trying to lighten the mood.

He grinned at me and shook his head, and took off to find Vanessa.


	28. Chapter 28

**Afternoon my loves. I stayed home from school today with a fever and upset stomach, so I figured I could update a bit earlier. We didn't have much Bethyl last chapter, so enjoy some more right now. ;) **

**Chapter 28**

Daryl found me after he and Carl finished with the deer. "Hey, Princess. Did ya talk to Vanessa?" he asked me. I knew he wanted to everything he could about this new girl.

I nodded my head."Yeah, not much to know about her. She likes to be called Van. Lost her brother and dad to the walkers. Her mom died before all this, but I didn't ask about it. She seems okay, though," I told him.

He smiled down at me and dropped a light kiss on my nose. I beamed up at him and he said, "Nice job kid."

"How bout a reward?" I asked quietly, a blush creeping up my face. I needed him more than ever right now and we'd barely talked all day. He grinned wickedly at me and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards his room. He shut and locked the door and I giggled while he pulled off my shirt and kissed my neck.

I pulled off his shirt and he threw me down on the bed so I was on my back, my legs hanging off. He shimmied down my old shorts and panties and looked up at me. He had his face right between my legs and I would've blushed if I wasn't so turned on by him.

...

I looked down at her soft, wet folds. I felt myself harden more and I don't think she was expecting it when I started to like around her clit and slit. She moaned loudly and gripped her hands in my hair. I stuck one finger in her and she gasped, arching her back. Fuck, she was still so tight. I pleased her until I felt her tightening around my finger. "Cum for me, baby," I said into her sex, and I let her explode into my mouth. "Mm, ya taste so good Princess," I said, licking my lips while I stood up, taking in her naked body.

...

I sat up and pulled down his jeans and underwear, releasing his erection. He was still standing up and I was at eye level with his member. I licked my lips and looked up at him.

"Ya don' have to do this, Beth," he said quietly to me.

I shook my head. "I know, I want to."

"Baby girl, I still wanna fuck ya," he said gruffly when I took him into my mouth. He was unbelievably hard, but his skin was still velvety soft. He grabbed my hair and shoved himself further into my mouth, pushing at the back of my throat. I looked up at him the whole time and he was lost in the feeling. "Fuck, I'm gonna cum," he said. I pulled back and he quickly slid on a condom, then pulled me into his arms, positioning me over him.

"This is new," I whispered to him. My legs were wrapped around him and he slowly let down, slipping inside of me. I let out a quiet moan and he pulled me back up, then let me down again, bouncing me faster and faster. I had my head buried into his neck, biting and kissing to muffle my moans. We let out one last cry, finding our release at the same time.

He held me in his arms while we caught our breath, then he pulled out and set me down on his bed. "Can we nap?" I asked and he smiled his lopsided grin.

"Course we can," he replied and we buried ourselves into the blankets. He pulled me close to his body, wrapping his arm around my waste. Neither of us were dressed still and the skin to skin contact was out of this world. I felt safe in his arms and quickly fell asleep.

...

I woke up to loud knocking on the door. "Get your ass up, Dixon, time for your shift!" Maggie yelled into my room. I was silently thankful that I locked the door.

"Fuck off, Greene," I grumbled back to her. I heard her footsteps walk away and I shook a smiling Beth awake.

She yawned and stretched, and kissed my cheek. "Gotta get up, Princess. Time for watch," I said into her hair.

She nodded and stood up, and I stared at her naked body, her back to me. She slipped her clothes back on and smiled at me, throwing her hair into a pony tail that, even up, reached halfway down her back.

I stood up stepped back into my clothes and kissed her cheek, taking her hand and walking to the cafeteria to get some food before we had to go out. It was dark outside, but there was still some sun on the horizon. We took our plates of venison and potatoes out to the fences.

Beth sat down to eat and I sat down next to her. We each had knives sitting next to us but there was no threats anywhere near. The watch went by in comfortable silence and after about an hour she spoke up.

"Daryl?" she said meekly.

"What's up?" I replied, shoving my knife into a grotesque walker.

"I think I might be pregnant." I dropped the knife out of my hand and looked at her.

"What? Why would you be pregnant? We've been safe and..." I stopped. The Governor, Carl.

"When he took me...he...neither of them used protection. Martinez didn't when he raped me. The Governor did, except the last few times. Carl couldn't, he had no choice," she explained. I couldn't breathe and my vision started to go fuzzy. I couldn't be a dad.

I started falling and grabbed on to the fence to keep myself up. She grabbed on to my arm and said, "Daryl? Daryl, I'm sorry. I don't want this but we have to, okay? Please, Daryl." She sounded so distant, and that was the last thing I heard before the world fell from under my feet.

**Alright it was kind of short, but I think it's okay for this one to be shorter. I hope you weren't expecting that, at least not now. Cuz I was writing this and was like wow I have no fucking clue where to go with this. So here we are. Review, follow, fave, and feel free to leave suggestions or PM me suggestions :)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Have another update! I had to do this while it was still fresh in my mind. Enjoy!**

**Also, thank you for your awesome feedback. I love it. :) If any of you ever wanna just message me and fangirl of TWD or Bethyl, be my guest, I'd love it ;)**

**And to the reviewer who said Daryl is 34, Norman Reedus is 45, born on January 6, 1969. I was just going off of a general age. Plus this story takes place a couple years after the prison. Thank you for the review!**

**Chapter 29**

I woke up with my head in Beth's lap, her fingers playing with my hair. The sky was still dark and the moon was high up, stars littering the sky. "What happened?" I asked, my voice gravelly.

"You passed out. Told you I might be pregnant. It could just be all the stress, my period has never been regular since this all started and since everything that happened with the Governor I might just...not have it this month, ya know?" It took me a minute to register her words, and I finally nodded.

"Okay. I'm goin' on a run in the mornin' though. Gotta know for sure," I said. What would happen if she was? If it wasn't my kid that I was raising...it wouldn't feel right.

She shook her head at me. "You don't have to, Daryl. There are a bunch of tests in the infirmary, when our shift is over we can go in there, alright?" she said reassuringly. I nodded again, barely able to talk. I stood up and grabbed my knife, sticking it through a walkers rotting head.

"How much longer d'we got?" I asked. The anticipation would kill me before the walking dead would.

"Only an hour or so. If Maggie and Glenn are feeling ambitious, maybe only 30 minutes," she replied, thoughtful. All I did was sigh. This was gonna be a long hour.

...

Glenn and Maggie finally showed up when the sun started rising. I let out a sigh of relief when Glenn yelled to us, "You guys can go get some sleep now. Sorry for being so late."

"Damn right, yer late! Got things ta do, Chinaman," Daryl said back to them. Glenn just smirked and kept walking. He knew never to take Daryl's shit personally.

We took our things and walked inside, and I struggled to keep my pace equal to Daryl's. We finally got into the infirmary and I reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out a TruBlue pregnancy test. "I'll be back," I said and left the room, sneaking off to the bathroom. It was harder than I thought to pee on the stupid stick. Once I actually did it, I had to wait 10 minutes. So I sat on the toilet with the lid down, bouncing my leg and biting my nails, staring into one of the cracked blue tiles on the floor.

...

This was taking too damn long. I needed to know.

But the more I thought about it, the more I actually wanted it. I wanted to be the father of Beth's baby. We could be happy. It could be the light in the never ending black hole that this world was.

My thoughts were interrupted when Beth peeked her head in the door. My heart started to race.

"What is it?" I asked, nervous as all hell.

"I'm not pregnant," she replied. "After all those times, unprotected...do you think...do you think I can't have a baby, Daryl?" she asked, sadness filling her eyes. I wrapped her up into my arms and shook my head.

"Maybe ya just got lucky, Princess. I was thinkin'...maybe we could raise a kid. I wanna try for a baby, Beth," I said, not even thinking as the words spilled out of my mouth.

She pulled back and looked up at me. "Really? You want to?" A smile spread across her lips. I knew she had always wanted to have a family of her own.

"Really."

"Then let's go, Daryl. Right now," she said, eager. She shut the door and locked it, and before I knew it she was shirtless and grabbing my crotch.

"Slow down, sex kitten," I said with a smirk. "It's gotta mean somethin' more than just fun. Slow and passionate. Later I'll treat you to somethin' else if ya like," I said with a wink. She grinned and kissed me slowly.

...

One song popped into my head when I kissed him. It was always one of my favorite love songs.

He pulled me close and slowly pulled off my bra and I just as gently tugged off his shirt, revealing his muscular and scarred chest. I ran my hands lightly over the scars on his back then grabbed his no longer stitched, but definitely scarred, wrist and kissed it, and he did the same. I smiled at him and he started to pull down my shorts, dropping them to my ankles. I stepped out of them and took off his pants. I stepped back and drank in his nearly naked, beautiful body.

"You're so beautiful, Beth. I love you," he said quietly and pulled me into another kiss, and we pulled down each others underwear. He kept me tight in his arms and positioned himself in front of my entrance and slowly pushed in. The feeling was pure bliss. I whimpered his name and our foreheads were touching, both of us panting and staring into the others eyes. It was perfect. It was like the whole world froze for us. He picked up the pace, but it never turned animal. We finished together, his seed spilling into me while we moaned out each others names. I could've lived in that moment forever.

...

There was a spark between us that time. We were focused on each other, being together, not just fucking. We got dressed quickly and made our way to my room. I stripped back down to my boxer briefs and she took her shorts off. We crawled into bed and I held her tight to me, and she started to sing.

_"Secret love, my escape_

_Take me far, far away_

_Secret love, are you there?_

_Will you answer my prayer?_

_Please take me anywhere but here..._

_When we're together _

_Thoughts of her disappear_

_If I fell to pieces_

_You'd heal this pain I feel_

_Secret love, my escape_

_Take me far, far away_

_Secret love, are you there?_

_Will you answer my prayer?_

_Please take me anywhere but here_

_Anywhere but here..."_

"I haven't heard you sing since the prison," I said, a smile plastered to my face. Her voice was beautiful.

"Never been in the mood to sing. Right now seemed...appropriate," she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

"I love you, Beth Greene," I whispered to her.

"I love you too, Daryl Dixon," she whispered back, and I think that was the best sleep I had ever had.

**Alright if you know that song, I will love you forever. That's Anywhere But Here by Mayday Parade. I've seen them two times in concert and I will once again in July at Warped Tour 2014 :D anyway, I thought that song kind of fits them, even though it's from a males point of view. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :) I didn't want it to be smut necessarily, so I made it kinda short. Review, I need some love ;)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Thank you, Crowgrl13 for pointing out that I don't even know my own story. ;) Daryl and Beth DID have unprotected sex. I messed up. ;P**

**Anyway! I was helping my mom move until 10 pm last night, so I'm sorry there was no update. So here you go!**

**Chapter 30**

The next few days went by agonizingly slow. We did the same routine everyday; wake up, get breakfast, walk the fences, talk in the grass, eat lunch, do chores, eat dinner, go to sleep. Every once in a while Daryl and I would sneak in some love but there honestly wasn't time for it and we were both mentally and physically drained. We still slept together and Daryl always kept me in sight. But after those few days of routine, Maggie told me I should get to know some of the people my age, get some friends. Of course she wouldn't leave me alone about it so I was almost forced to.

I knew Daryl was close by, pretending to do something else but watching me like a hawk. Not in a stalker way, of course. He blamed himself for everything that happened to me and now he'll do what he has to to fix it. I walked up to a group of people, 3 girls and 4 guys. I was always terrible with making new friends.

They all stopped talking and looked at me when I walked up. I put on the brightest smile I could and said, "Hi, I'm Beth. I guess since we're living together I should at least know your names." I could feel my face turning beat red, and I suddenly felt self conscious about the scars on my legs and arms.

One of the girls smiled at me after an awkward moment of silence and said, "I'm Renee, this is Pheobe, Amaya, Jacob, Matt, David, and Tylor." Renee had a full head of gorgeous red curls cascading down her back. She was short and slim and wearing the same thing as me, with varying colors. Pheobe had shoulder length blonde hair and was taller but just as skinny. I guess that was normal these days. Amaya had stick straight black hair that was pulled into a high pony tail. She had a sundress on and was wearing no shoes. I thought of how unpractical it was to do that, but pushed it aside. These people were sheltered.

Jacob had that kind of douche bag haircut that was flipped up in the front. He was wearing a muscle shirt and some very unattractive jorts. **For those who don't know, jorts are jean shorts ;). **Matt was cute, and seemed pretty friendly. He seemed like the youngest of the group. He was wearing a white V-neck shirt and a pair of bloody and muddy board shorts, his hair shaggy and surfer like, golden blonde. David looked Puerto Rican, and wore a black shirt and white pants, along with some black combat boots. The black shirt had to have him dying out here. Lastly, Tylor looked like the least sociable one. He had shaggy dirty blond hair and wore black shorts and a black V-neck and practical running shoes. Overall though, none of them seemed threatening.

From what I gathered, Renee was with Matt, Pheobe was with Tylor, and Amaya was with David. Jacob wasn't with anyone as far as I could tell. That worried me a little bit, but I shoved the irrational fear aside. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad.

...

Beth seemed to be doing okay with the other kids, so I let my guard down a little. She could handle herself with a couple of kids. I walked away to go work on one of the cars. Most of them were starting to break down or would need oil soon and damn, that was harder to come by than one would think. But we managed.

I was under a 2011 Dodge Dart, trying to figure out why the hell it wouldn't run, when Rick walked in. "We need to go on a bigger run soon. The last one was a bust for food, we're not gonna last much longer on what we have." I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut, pulling myself out from under the car.

"I know. Everything has been picked clean. Where do you think we're gonna go?" I said. We'd drove for hours each way from this school and couldn't find jack shit.

"Well, I was thinkin' we might need to relocate. You know that the Governor's camp isn't far, and even if he's dead, other people can find this place. It's probably for the best," Rick said. The pain in his voice showed that he didn't want to leave this place, but he and I both knew we had to.

"What ever you think is best. This time we'll be organized. Stick together. It'll be alright," I said. We had a shit ton of planning to do. Had to find some more maps. I sighed again and rubbed my temples, following Rick inside the school.

...

I spent the whole day with Vanessa. She told me to call her Van but I refused to. I was never really one for short names. With the exception of Beth; it just fit her so much better.

We were sitting in my room, her back pack sitting next to her and my comic books strewn across the floor. We'd been reading them the whole day. She reached into her back pack and pulled out an orange medicine bottle with a little baggie inside, then pulled out a glass piece, and I had no clue what it was.

"Ever smoked, Carl?" she said with an innocent smile on her face. Her curly hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she was entrancing. I just shook my head. I'd always been told to stay away from it, and being in the hell hole the world has turned to, it wasn't hard. "Do you have stress?" Of course I did. Who didn't? I nodded a little bit. "This'll help. Just trust me, okay?" I swallowed and nodded. She stood up and opened up the windows and sat back down next to me.

She pulled the baggie out of the bottle and put what looked like...dead grass? into, what I assumed was, the pipe. It was little and clear, but had girly orange and pink swirls. She pulled out a lighter and put the pipe up to her mouth, covering this little hole with her finger. It seemed way to confusing. She lit it and took a deep breath in, the uncovered the hole. She held her breath and pulled my face close to hers and parted my lips with hers, blowing the smoke in.

She pulled back and smiled at me. "You're turn."

**Carl's getting naughty! Tsk tsk. I hope you enjoyed! I just did a little bit of each and I'll pick up right where I left off but start out with Beth again. Review3**


	31. Chapter 31

**Hello lovelies! I'm sorry for not updating in days. Of course the weekend was busy and Monday was my birthday and yesterday was rough between my dad and I. But I made time to update just for you guys ;) Also, the name Tylor, is actually my boyfriends name and it's spelled like that. Fun fact. Anyway, enjoy. :)**

**Chapter 31**

I spent almost the whole day talking to the group. It was dinner time so we all walked inside and I looked around for Daryl, leaving my new group of friends. I found him and took his hand, kissing him on the cheek. He gave me a half smile in return and said, "Have fun today?"

I shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, it was weird though. It's just...different having people to talk to, you know?" I said and he nodded.

"Trust me, Princess. I know."

...

I didn't trust those kids much, the ones Beth was hanging out with. That perky red head and her boyfriend seemed alright. But the rest of them...seemed like trouble. Call it a gut feeling.

I shoved it aside and smiled for her. As long as she was happy, I was happy. I hoped. Even if these kids were really trouble, I'd be there to help her back up. Hopefully this didn't turn around to bite me in the ass.

...

Van taught me how to smoke. It felt like I coughed up a damn lung and my stomach ached from the coughing, but after a few minutes, it didn't matter at all. We sat there, smiling at each other like there wasn't flesh eating corpses walking outside.

"How are ya feelin', Carl?" she drawled out sweetly. I giggled at her and nodded, not saying a word. I never wanted this feeling to go away. "One more hit?" she asked, batting her eyes at me. I giggled and nodded again, lighting it for her. She did what she did the first time, parting my lips with hers and blowing the smoke in. But this time, she didn't pull away. She didn't move. I figured it was my turn, huh?

I pushed my lips to hers and kissed her, no tongue or anything, just a simple kiss.

Then my dad opened the damn door.

...

Dinner wasn't anything special, there was some deer meat left over and some potatoes and beans. Daryl's hand was on my leg the whole time, and when I finished he inched his hand inward more and more. He could tell I was starting to get hot and bothered, so I looked at him with dark eyes and nodded. We stood up and put our dishes in the kitchen, then snuck off to our room. We got in and locked the door and fiercely locked lips, trying to get the others shirts off. Our skin touched, feeling like fire. We worked on each others pants and he said breathlessly to me, "I want you to be careful around those kids, a'right?" I just nodded, not thinking about it. We both just wanted one thing right now, and we obviously wanted to get down to it.

He bit at my neck and color bone, making me moan. When he finally got my pants down he quickly positioned himself at my entrance and pushed himself in quickly, and I screamed out. He put a hand over my mouth to quiet me a little bit.

"As much as I wanna make ya scream, baby girl, ya gotta be quiet. Don' want yer sister comin' in here right now," he said and I nodded, breathing heavily from behind his hand. My nails dug into his back and with his free hand played with my clit, sending me over the edge, legs trembling. He thrust in once more and reached his climax, releasing himself in me. He stood over me for a minute before releasing his hand and whispering into my hair. "Love ya, Princess."

I smiled up at him and lied down, him next to me, neither of us dressed. Once I caught my breath, I asked, "What were you talking about, telling me to be careful?"

He hesitated but looked me in the eye. "Jus' don' trust them quite yet. Got a funny feeling," he replied.

"Of course you do. Especially with all that's happened with you and I, it's alright to get a bad feeling about people. Try not to worry about it, okay?" I said, trying to comfort him. I nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck for a nap before our watch.

...

"Carl, Vanessa, what the hell do you think you're doing?" he said, obviously angry. But right now I couldn't even care.

"Don't worry, Mr. Grimes. It's okay, we're in a safe room, this stuff won't hurt us. And we were jus' kissin', I mean come on. We're teenagers, we're supposed to kiss," Van said with a lopsided smile.

"I'll deal with you two later, go get dinner," he said after hesitating. Damn, I was hungry.

"Come on Carl, let's go eat," she said, pulling me to the door.

...

We woke up probably 45 minutes later and got dressed quickly. We were walking out of the room when Beth said sarcastically, "I gotta use the ladies room, is that alright, Mr. Dixon?" I grinned at her and nodded, walking to the bathrooms. We were almost there when some douche bag looking kid walked out of nowhere in front of us.

"Watch where yer goin', kid," I said, irritated. Fucking kids.

"Daryl, be nice. This is...Jacob, right?" The kid nodded in return and Beth smiled. She was way too damn nice and trusting. I pulled her a little bit tighter to my body and nodded at him.

"See ya around, Beth," he said, a disgusting grin on his face.

"I got a bad feelin' about that kid, 'specially, Beth. Be careful, a'right?" I asked. It was true. I kissed the top of her head and she left me to go to the bathroom, walking back out a minute later. "Relieved?" I asked and she smacked my arm. "Jus' a question, Princess," I said, and she laughed at me, walking out into the night.

**This was just kind of a filler, I'm sorry nothing happened! I'll update soon though, I promise xx**


	32. Chapter 32

**Hello! Once again I apologize. I have a new puppy and it's nearly impossible to write with him here, he chews on my laptop every time I go on it so I no longer allow him in my room when I'm in here! He's like my shadow, I swear. Anyway! I will always try to keep this a spoiler free zone, and my story line is (obviously) not going along with the story line of the show.**

**Also, I'm thinking about an AU non-apocalyptic Bethyl story soon and wrapping this one up in about 10 or so more chapters. Any input? :) Drop a review, feel free to PM me or suggest stories (except for Caryl fics. 100% guarantee I will not read;) ) to be honest, I've pretty much have never liked Carol and the interactions of Beth and Daryl on the show are making me so hopeful. Anyway, enough of my blabbering, on with the chapter. :)**

**Chapter 32**

A few days went by regularly, and on a particularly hot night I was with my new group of friends. A couple new girls joined in after a couple of days; their was a strawberry blond with freckles and a long braid, a plaid sleeveless shirt and some-way too short for the apocalypse-daisy dukes. Her name was Annabelle. Then there was another girl who was clung to her side 24/7. I assumed they shared the same clothes, looked about the same size. She had the same braid but bright blue eyes and sun bleached hair, and her name was Melanie. Probably best friends since before.

"So, you're like...with that old redneck?" Annabelle asked in her normal valley girl voice. I blushed and nodded.

"Yeah, isn't it kind of obvious?" I asked, too hot to deal with people.

"I guess...I mean. He's kinda old. But he's hot, I wouldn't mind having a piece myself," Melanie said with a grin on her face. I glared daggers at her and I knew Daryl was always watching, because he came up and pulled me into a passionate kiss.

"Let's go get some water, _Princess_," he said, putting emphasis on the Princess. I smirked and walked away and I heard them scoff as I walked away with Daryl. He lowered his voice and said, "Has it been long enough to know if yer...ya know." He didn't want to speak to loud, so I just nodded. "Let's go to the infirmary then, Princess. I gotta know."

I smiled at his enthusiasm and walked off to the infirmary, pulling out another test and going off to the bathroom. Once again I sat, biting my nails and waiting for the response. This time Daryl came in while we waited for the test and he held my hand tightly. Every minute or so he asked, "Is it time yet?" I would just smile and shake my head, until it was finally time to look. We stood up and looked down at the stick sitting on the counter.

...

Dad yelled at me a couple of days ago, telling me to stay away from Van and all this shit. But who cares? I mean, we all could've died the next day, right? So every night I'd sneak off to Van's room to smoke again. We got closer every time we talked, physically and emotionally. We would make out and it started to come naturally, so she let me move to second base. God, he body was perfect. Small waist, big tits...Apparently I get horny while I'm high. I didn't notice and Van didn't care.

That night we were getting particularly frisky, I guess you could say. Van noticed the bulge in my pants this time and rested her hand on it, blood shot eyes locking with mine. My hand was under her bra and she was biting her lip. I nodded simply, letting her know that, fuck, I wanted her to do it. She unzipped my pants and I kissed her, tongue and all. But when she actually touched my length, I pulled back, thinking back to the night with Beth and the Governor. She reached for me again and I pulled my hand away and zipped my pants back up.

"What the fuck, Carl?" she said, obviously irritated.

"I..I'm sorry. I just can't. Not right now," I replied and walked out, frustrated as all hell.

...

I was anticipating this moment for weeks. That moment to see that little pink plus sign. It came into view and I scooped Beth up into my arms, kissing her. "I love you, baby girl, so much. This is happening. Yer sure yer ready for this?" I asked, worried that she'd changed her mind.

She nodded, obviously ecstatic, and that worry flew out the window. "Ya gotta tell Maggie, ya know," I said, my tone a little bit more serious.

"I know. Just wait a few months. I could miscarry and even after that there could be still birth and-"

"Stop talkin' like that, girl. It'll be perfect. As perfect as we can make it in this fucked up world. I'm gonna go find somethin' for us to celebrate with. Meet me in our room," I said, taking off to the cafeteria. It was dark in the hallway, and the two creepy girls Beth was talking to earlier walked out in front of me, stopping midsentence. _Fuck._

"Hey Daryl," the blond chick said. I grunted a hello and tried to shove past them, but they both put a hand to my chest. I could've pushed them aside but I didn't wanna hurt the fuckers.

"We've been lookin' for you. I know you don't really love that perky blond bitch, and I'm sure she doesn't...please you correctly, right?" the other one said.

"Ain't none of yer damn business," I growled back. These bitches were ruining my good night.

"Like hell it ain't," the blond, Melanie?, said, forcing her lips on mine, and I felt a small hand grab my junk.

"This is what's right, Daryl. Wouldn't you rather be pleased by two women rather than just one?" Annabelle, I remembered, said, sickeningly sweet into my ear. All I wanted was some damn alcohol and another night with Beth.

...

What was taking him so long? I shouldn't have worried, he was in the school. But I got up anyway to look for him, making my way towards the lunch room. I heard voices and turned the corner, seeing Daryl kissing Melanie and Annabelle groping him. Tears sprung to my eyes and Annabelle looked up at me. "Wanna join, Beth? There's plenty of room." She grinned at me and Daryl looked at, pulling away from Melanie.

"Beth.." he said quietly, but I just shook my head and ran away, locking myself in my room, not ours.


	33. Chapter 33

**Hello! Okay so Thursday I had almost all of this chapter typed out right? I even copied the text so it wouldn't delete it all on me when I saved it. So I saved it, and it deleted it all! And I was like alright it's all good I copied it AND IT JUST PASTED LIKE 20 ENTERS OHMYGOD I was upset. Anyway. Here's an update, you guys are lovely with your reviews.**

**To the reviewer talking about Beth's mental stability and hers and Daryl's guard (Jester's Pet Oriole, I believe is the username) thank you for pointing that out! I'll try to make it a bit more realistic, I promise. :) xx enjoy chapter 33!**

**Chapter 33**

"You see what ya did ya fuckin' bitches?!" I screamed at them, not caring that I pushed them maybe a bit too hard. I booked it to our room but it was dark and empty. I cursed under my breath and ran to Beth's original room, my booted steps echoing through the hallways. I reached her door and yanked the knob, only to realize it was fucking locked. "Beth, open up! I swear, Princess, it's not what it looks like," I yelled through the heavy door.

"Just fuck off, Daryl!" she yelled back, her voice cracking midsentence.

I wiggled the knob again. "Please, jus'...lemme talk," I said, a little bit quieter this time. I heard her shuffle to the door, and opened it up just enough for her head to peek through. Her eyes were red rimmed and swollen, hair in a very messy ponytail, and her cheeks were stained with tears.

"What do you want?" she whispered to me. "To tell me that everything you felt and told me was a lie? That you never really cared about the farmers daughter, that she was just a good fuck? That you just wanted to leave another damn scar on my body? Is that what you want?"

"God, Beth..no, I...jus' let me in," I whispered, pushing open the door. She cried out in pain, on arm hidden behind the door. She was paler than usual, and I could see it in her eyes.

...

"Let me see, Beth," I heard him whisper. My world was spinning and I could feel the hot liquid dripping down my arm. God was I stupid.

My world went black.

...

She passed out and I caught her before she fell to the ground, and finally saw her arm. There was a long, crimson gash running from her wrist to the crook of her arm. "God damn it!" I yelled out, picking her up bridal style and sprinting off to the infirmary. I heard a door open and barely saw Maggie before I whipped past her. I heard her lighter footsteps close behind me.

"What the hell happened, Dixon?!" she yelled at me, at the same time she opened the door to the infirmary.

I set her on the cot and got out the first aid kit. By now it was mandatory for everyone know how to deal with cuts, gashes, scrapes, no matter how deep. I could stitch her up, but it sure as hell wouldn't be neat.

"What the fuck do you think, Greene?!" I shot back, wiping away as much blood as I could with water and washcloth.

"You're supposed to be her knight with shining crossbow, aren't you? Her big protector? You're supposed to be the one keeping an eye on her making sure she doesn't pull stupid stunts like this!" she yelled, just getting in my way.

"You weren't fuckin' there either, Maggie. You wouldn't even begin to understand why she does this, you don' even wanna know, do you? Do ya even know yer own god damn sister?! And you sure as hell ain't the one savin' her life right now," I said, pulling out the needle and thread, getting right to work, wiping more blood off as I went.

Maggie shut up and let me do the work, and I finished after 22 stitches. Just another fuckin' scar on her body, because of me.

...

I woke up with cotton mouth and the worst pain I'd ever felt in my arm. I tried sitting up but was pushed back down. I stared at the ceiling and wet my lips, coughed and said, "Where am I?" Maybe the most stereotypical thing I could've said, but I had no idea.

"Infirmary," I heard a gruff voice say shortly. Everything came rushing into my head again, the memory of last night.

"Daryl...why did you..." I knew I didn't have to finish.

"I didn't. I was goin' ta get somethin' for us. To celebrate. Thing one an' thing two came outta no where, started touchin' me an' shit. I couldn't push them off, or hit them. They were just girls. Beth...I'm sorry. I understand if you don' wanna talk ta me or nothin'-" I cut him off by, very painfully, pushing myself up and crashing my lips onto his.

I broke the kiss and whispered breathily, "Nothin' to be sorry for. I'm sorry. I almost left you alone in this world an' over something so stupid, I just had enough, ya know? Everything has been weighing me down, and I was going deeper and deeper into the pit. If you wouldn't have been there when you were...I could be...I could..." I started to hyperventilate, and he lied me back down, resting my head on two pillows. My arm throbbed with pain and he too my good hand into his.

"We'll be okay, Princess. We'll be okay," he said gently, and I let my eyes slip shut again.

...

"Carl, what the fuck happened last night?" Van stormed up to me, hair in a high ponytail, those damn short shorts on and tank top that hugged her body perfectly. She looked so cute when she was mad.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her into my room. "Van, you can't tell anyone about this, okay? No one, you can't even talk to yourself about this." She looked at me with wide eyes and her mouth hung open slightly.

"Yeah, man. If it's that serious," she said back, looking me in the eye.

I looked down at my boots, unable to tell her while looking at her. How the hell was I supposed to explain this?

"Well...uh...about a month ago, I think...yeah, about that...this guy, the Governor came. He kidnapped me and Beth. He...well he always used to rape Beth, because that was where she was forced to stay after the prison," I droned on. She nodded, knowing what I was talking about. I told her everything. "Well all three of us shared a room when he kidnapped us. He tried doing shit to Beth, and I couldn't just watch. So I got up to defend her...and he..." I looked back up at her. "He made me fuck her, Van. The worst part was, he did it too. Made me watch while he raped her. And I couldn't do jack shit. That's why, Van." Her eyes were wide and I was frustrated all over again, living in that memory. The shit that man did...he ruined my whole fucking life on twenty-four hours.

**Okayy I know not much happened in that but I hope it was decent enough! I'm also sick and have no voice and a sore throat so I wanted to wrap it up quickly. Leave a review for me :) xx**


	34. Chapter 34

**Oh goodness. You guys seriously make me so happy. :) I wanted to update once again but I'm doing so with a 45 lb. puppy on one arm. Let's see how this works out.**

**DID YOU SEE THAT EPISODE HOLY POO. No spoilers of course. :)**

**Chapter 34**

In all honesty, I was still pissed off about the whole situation. But what was the point of being mad if you couldn't do anything about it? There would be time later to be mad. I guessed I could wait until then. For now, I'd just put up with my world fading in and out, Daryl next to me.

...

How could I let this shit happen? Beth was lying next to me, holding on to life by a thread. Because of what? Me. Because I cared too much about hurting two stupid, god damn girls. I always fucked shit up. Why would she be with me? I knew I didn't deserve her, but fuck, I couldn't stay away from her. Her porcelain skin, her halo of blond hair, those big, blue doe eyes...

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the door open and Maggie walked in. "How is she?" she asked quietly.

"Should be fine. Jus' need ta keep her hydrated, she should stay in bed for the day," I replied equally as quiet. Didn't wanna wake Beth.

Maggie nodded and stood in the doorway, staying silent and staring at Beth, roaming over the gash on her wrist, her gaze resting on Beth's small, pale hand gripped tightly in my larger, rough one.

"You really love her?" she asked, her voice a whisper. I looked up at her, my greasy hair hanging in my eyes.

"Yeah, I do. We're really back on this subject again, Greene?" I said, my voice rough.

"It's different this time. I believe you love her, now. You've been with her all night, holdin' her hand, not sleepin' a wink. I can tell by your eyes, the way you look at her. You make her smile, she makes you smile. I guess I just...didn't wanna believe it, ya know? Like if I didn't accept it, it wouldn't be real. An old redneck with my sweet, young sister just...didn't seem right. But now? It don't matter how old you are, what you look like. Love is love, and all I want is Beth to be happy. And if she is with you, so be it," Maggie spewed. I smiled at her, a real, genuine smile. Never thought I'd hear those words come out of her loud mouth.

...

I woke up when Maggie walked into the room, but I didn't have the strength to open my crusted eyes. My mouth was dry again but then Maggie started talking about Daryl and I and I just had to stay quiet, not ruin the moment. When she finished, I had to fight a smile off of my face. I heard Maggie leave the room and I opened my eyes up, looking up at Daryl. I rubbed crusties out of my eyes and smiled at him, ignoring the pain in my arm.

He kissed my cheek and said, "Ya hungry? Thirsty?" I licked my lips and nodded, my stomach growling in response to thinking about food. "I'll be right back, Princess." He let go of my hand and left to go get my something to eat. I sighed and stared at the ceiling until I heard footsteps come back in. But these were lighter footsteps, almost like...

"Hey Bethy," said Melanie in her stupid valley girl voice. I groaned and propped myself up on one arm.

"What the fuck do you want?" I snarled out at her.

"I want your redneck. But more importantly...wait, did you try killing yourself?" she said with an amused smile on her face. I glared at her, my face flushing and I became painfully aware of my stitched arm out in the open.

Just then I heard Daryl's feet coming down the hallway. "Why don' you go an' fuck yerself, thing two. Obviously can't get a man to fuck you, why not do it yerself?" Daryl growled. Her face turned bright red and she huffed, turning her nose up and stomping away. I grinned at him and saw the plate of eggs in one hand a water bottle in the other. He handed over the over the plate and helped my sit up against the wall, pillows behind me for comfort, of course.

I dug into the plate of eggs greedily. It felt like I hadn't eaten in days. "You still mad?" Daryl said quietly after staring at me for a few minutes. I swallowed my mouth full of eggs and looked up at him, then looked back down and shrugged. Of course I was still mad, but not at him. Well, not entirely.

"I promise, I didn't mean for it to happen, if there's anything I can do to make it up to I swear, Beth, I'll do it," he said seriously, icy blue eyes locked with mine.

I nodded back and said, "I know, Daryl. Just forget about it, okay?"

He nodded. "Alright, Princess. Anything you want me to do for you today?"

"Well...if you said anything...can we go outside today? Go sit in the grass or go for a walk or something? I need to be out of this damn room," I said with a small smile on my face.

He hesitated before saying, "Fine, but you gotta take it easy. We'll go for a walk tomorrow, but we can go out today. A'right?" I grinned and nodded, thankful for having him. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad.

...

The next morning, Van walked up to me. I couldn't meet her eyes for longer than a second. She looked sad, but I didn't want her damn pity. I didn't want to be treated like Beth always was, I wanted to be treated normal. So I sucked it up and finally looked up at her. "Morning, Van," I said with a lopsided smile. She looked relieved to see that and flashed an amazing smile back at me.

"Morning, Carl. Do you have watch after breakfast?" she said smoothly, tilting her head to one side slightly, sunlight making her brown eyes sparkle. I blushed. Damn she was gorgeous.

"Yeah, you wanna come with? We can't do anything stupid, though. We're protecting our lives out there," I said. Being stupid was for when we were indoors.

"Yeah, man, of course. We can just chill and talk like usual. Sound good?" she said, her smile even brighter.

"Sounds good," I said, grabbing her hand and walked off to the cafeteria.

...

I helped Beth get out of bed and I fixed her hair-well, as much as this old redneck could-and helped her into clean shorts and a tank top. I took her hand and walked her outside, squinting at the harsh sunlight. People were milling about, teenagers laughing, others on watch. Everything actually seemed...normal.

We walked over to a vacant spot of grass and sat down. Honestly, I was worried about people saying shit to Beth with her arm out in the open. But she didn't seem to mind; instead she seemed to be soaking in the sun, enjoying it. I smiled at her and she gave me a funny look. "What?" she asked, amused.

"What?" I asked back, confused on what she was asking.

"You're starin' at me with a goofy grin on your face," she explained, a smile plastered on.

"You're jus'..." When did I let women get to me like this? I was turning soft. That's not what kept you living in this world. "Nothin'," I finished, wiping the smile off my face. I needed to toughen up, damn it.

"What's wrong?" she asked, a scared expression on her face. I didn't wanna hurt her, but I couldn't let her get to me the way she did, not now.

I stood up and shook my head. "Nothin', Beth. I gotta go," I said and walked off, pissed off at myself more than anything.

...

What just happened?

**Hope you enjoyed! I think I could've done a bit better, but hey, you take what you can get. I'll update tomorrow hopefully! It's in my plans. ;P leave a review~**


	35. Chapter 35

**Hello! I don't have much to say besides you guys rock ( as usual. ;) ) and enjoy! **

**Chapter 35**

I lied in the grass for a long time, looking up at the clouds. Obviously he was mad, and there was nothing I could do to help right now. Eventually I saw two shadows cover my face. I looked up and saw two guys, David and Jacob if I remembered correctly. I stayed on my back and one of them sat down next to me.

"Hey, Beth. I saw Daryl walk off and wanted to see if you're alright?" I heard a sweet, southern voice ask. I recognized it as David's.

Jacob's cocky voice came next. He was obviously from the Jersey area, judging by his accent. How the hell did he get down here? "Yeah, you wanna explain that cut on your arm?" I blushed furiously. I guess I was stupid for hoping today would be good.

"None of your damn business," I shot at him. Why did people have to be so nosey?

"Jacob, seriously? You don't need to be an asshole," David said. I gave him a small smile, silently thanking him.

"Nah, man. I'm serious. You got scars all over your legs and arms, obviously shit happened. So wassup with this one?" he asked. Couldn't he just leave?

"I said it's none of your damn business," I said again, getting mad. I still hadn't moved from my back, arms laying at my sides. I felt weight on my arm and a stinging pain, and Jacob's foot was pinning my arm to the grass.

I screamed out in pain and Jacob growled, "I said tell me, you stupid bitch. You try to kill yourself again? I heard what happened the first time. Crying to yourself about your mom and brother. You think everything is about you, that no one else lost anyone? You're just a selfish little-"

David stood up and tackled him off of me, punching him in the nose. "You can't even begin to understand what she was feeling, why don't you go mess with someone else?" David growled. Definitely not what usually came out of his mouth. I wonder if he ever tried to take the easy way out...

"Get the fuck off me!" Jacob yelled, and David spit on him and punched him, and I heard a sickening crack. I cringed as he hit him once more.

"David! David, get off him, it's fine!" I yelled, panicking. Sure the kid was an ass, but I didn't want him to have serious damage.

He stopped and looked over at me, rage in his eyes. "Really. I-I'm used to it," I said, voice like a mouse. He glanced down at Jacob's bloodied, swollen face, then back up at me and nodded.

"Okay..okay," he whispered, climbing off the kid. Jacob was knocked out in the grass, but I was sure he'd be fine. Maybe a broken nose at worst.

"Thank you," I said quietly, and he nodded back at me, then took me into his arms.

"I understand, you know. I get it," he whispered to me, and I held him tight. I never wanted anyone to feel the same way that I did.

Daryl popped into my head. I needed to find him.

"Thank you," I said again. "I need to go, David. I need to find Daryl."

...

I was so fucking stupid. She probably thought she did something wrong, who knows what she'll do next. Maybe this is why I never had a real girlfriend. Or maybe because I never had one, I was fucking this up. The only thing going for me. But it was making me...not me. I wasn't myself; she brought out a different side of me. One that I only ever had with my mom, the only one with affection.

But I didn't wanna be seen as a softy. I sure as hell wasn't one. It was just...her wavy blond locks, her gorgeous blue eyes, and that smile...

Damn it. I was fighting myself. Was this what Rick felt like when he lost Lori?

It was probably something totally different. I just wanted to make myself feel better.

I took off inside the school. I would've gone to the woods but I didn't have my bow on me, and my knife was back in our room. So I let my feet carry me, and I ended up in Beth's room. There was blood on the inside of the door, blood on the ground. I swallowed and picked up the switchblade full of dried blood and closed it, slipping it into my pocket.

I sat down on her bed and looked around the room, breathing in her scent. I put my head in my hands and started to cry. Why the fuck was I crying? _Ya almost lost the light at the end of your god damn tunnel, moron. It's normal to cry, baby brother. I don' think yer a pussy. Well, not 'cause a this, at least. _I heard Merle's voice in my head. I hadn't heard him talk in a long time. Crazy, how that shit worked.

I heard footsteps outside the door, but I didn't move. The door opened and I heard light footsteps walk towards me, then a light weight next to me on the bed. Then there was a small hand, resting on my back.

"What'd I do wrong, Daryl?" Beth asked, in a small, scared voice.

I shook my head. "You didn' do nothin' wrong, Princess." My voice was raspy and barely making it out of my throat.

She said nothing back, but rested her forehead on my shoulder, holding my arm while I cried.

Damn pussy, wasn't I?

**Shorter chapter, I apologize! **

**Mental breakdown from Daryl, more drama with Beth...what do you think? :) Leave me some love, and of course if you guys have any recommended Bethyl fics for me to read, let me know! And I will always readily accept any suggestions you guys have. Thanks for reading! xx**


End file.
